Labour’s candidate hopes to capitalise on his lead in the polls with an upbeat vision “for all Londoners
Up on Level 39 at One Canada Square,Sadiq Khan promised to lead a London where “the sky’s the limit for optimism.” Labour’s candidate to succeed Brexit Boris as London mayor had some cause for feeling upbeat about himself. A poll conducted by Opinium during a week of hostile headlines and published on Tuesday found that he’s maintained a healthy lead over his main rival, the Conservative Zac Goldsmith, and is on course for a decisive victory. With eight weeks to go until election day he launched his manifesto against a backdrop of Square Mile towers and a long curve of the Thames. The emotional message was unmissable: the cramped guy from Tooting can rise to bestride the mountainous city of his birth.
Small confession: I have to talk myself down from the romantic tall of this,Khan’s version of a London seduction story to which Im too susceptible but also have my reasons for warming to. Khan’s policy prospectus, with its heroic house-building targets and four-year public transport fares freeze, or still needs filling out with detail and the limits on mayors’ powers mean that some of his objectives will depend heavily on others to be achieved. Goldsmith has accused him of “fantasy politics,” part of a larger, nastier charge that he, or his Crosbyite campaign machine and their media conduits will hold trying to develop stick between now and 5 May. But,as his journey to the Labour candidacy showed, Khan knows about steely practicality as well as selling dreams. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com