London needs a Mayor with conviction

Labour supporters have a clear choice when selecting our Mayoral candidate. We can settle for mediocrity – picking a bland candidate, who won’t rock the boat and is too scared to challenge the inequality that increasingly prevents Londoners from reaching their potential. Or we can choose a conviction politician, with real Labour values – someone not afraid to stand up to the powerful and fight for social justice and equality for all Londoners. A Mayor who will deliver a new generation of social housing.  I choose the latter. I choose Sadiq Khan.

Sadiq has always been a conviction politician, standing up against injustice wherever he sees it. As a lawyer, he defended those suffering at the hands of their employers or the state. He rightly opposed the Iraq War and 90 days detention. And just last week he stood up for what he believed and voted against the Tory plans to cut benefits for working Londoners that will hollow out our city.

Sadiq isn’t just another cardboard cut-out, career politician – he’s a real Londoner who got into politics to make the world – and his home city – a better place. His parents were immigrants to London in the 1960s. His dad was a London bus driver and his mum sewed clothes from home. He grew up on a council estate and went to the local state school and to university in London. He had a successful career as a human rights lawyer for years before entering politics.

Sadiq has a radical plan to tackle inequality in London. That starts with building the new social homes, and affordable homes to buy, that our City needs so badly. Sadiq will take on the property developers – enforcing strict affordable housing targets in new developments and delivering the new homes that Londoners need – not investments for foreign millionaires. Fighting for the power to freeze rents, while creating a London-wide not for profit lettings agency. Delivering a real London Living Wage – over £10 an hour – for all Londoners. Standing up for trade union rights and opposing welfare cuts. Freezing tube fares and cutting bus fares. Opposing Heathrow expansion and blocking fracking. Making our police force more representative of the city it serves.

Sadiq will use the power of the Mayoralty to tackle injustice and challenge the Tory Government. Having Sadiq as our Mayor would be an incredible symbol of our city’s diversity and vibrancy – sending a clear message about our values to the rest of the world.

Now is the time for Labour to be bold. London deserves better than a Mayor who wouldn’t say boo to a goose and is too scared to challenge inequality. We deserve a Labour Mayor with real convictions. That’s why I’m backing Sadiq Khan.

Ken Livingstone is a former Mayor of London