‘Outrageous’ Sadiq Khan allowed to remain ‘unelected’ London Mayor for a year

Sadiq Khan has been ‘unelected’ for a year claims commentator

Both local and mayoral elections have been expected to be taking place in May 2021 after the pandemic forced officials to postpone the vote in response to the spread of the virus. But as the virus continues to spread in the capital, some Labour politicians have been calling for the London Mayoral election to be postponed once again. Speaking to TalkRADIO, political commentator John Rentoul said the UK should “bust a gut” to ensure local elections take place in May.

The Chief Political Commentator at the Independent claimed it is an “outrage” Sadiq Khan has been allowed to remain the unelected mayor of the capital for an extra year.

He said: “I think it’s sensible to make contingency plans for postponing it but we just don’t know what it’s going to look like.

“If the vaccination programme is rolled out as fast as it possibly could be, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t see restrictions lifted by the end of March, in which case May election should be fine.

“After all they had presidential elections in America in the middle of a pandemic. It shouldn’t be impossible.”

He added: “I don’t think the election should have been postponed last year.

“I think it’s an outrage that Sadiq Khan has been the unelected Mayor of London for a year.”

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In England, Ministers are reviewing the lockdown measures and considering making them stricter in a bid to help drive down the number of infections.

Boris Johnson has warned that tougher lockdown measures may be needed as he announced that around 2.4 million vaccines for Covid-19 have now been put in people’s arms.

The Prime Minister stressed “now is the moment for maximum vigilance” amid increasing calls for tougher lockdown restrictions as case rates soar in several parts of the country.

During a visit to a vaccine centre in Ashton Gate Stadium, Bristol, the Prime Minister said: “We’re going to keep the rules under constant review.

“Where we have to tighten them, we will.

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“We have rules in place already which, if they are properly followed, we believe can make a huge, huge difference.

“It’s now that people need to focus… when they’re out shopping, whether they’re buying cups of coffee in the park or whatever it happens to be, they need to think about spreading the disease.”

Mr Johnson said that “more important than us just pushing out new rules”, people should follow existing guidance.

“In supermarkets, people need to be keeping their distance, making sure that they’re wearing masks, doing the right thing.

“We need to enforce the rules in supermarkets. When people are getting takeaway drinks, in cafes, then they need to avoid spreading the disease there, avoid mingling too much.

“Now is the moment for maximum vigilance, maximum observance of the rules.

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“Of course, if we feel that things are not being properly observed then we may have to do more.”

Turning to vaccines, the Prime Minister said roughly 40 percent of the 80-year-olds in the UK have now been vaccinated, with around 23 percent of the elderly residents of care homes having been inoculated.

He said around two million people overall have received a vaccine and “maybe a bit more”.

He added: “We’re at about 2.4 million jabs all in across the whole of the UK.”

Among those calling for tougher lockdown rules is Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, who told reporters the country is “at the most serious stage” of the pandemic “and that calls for the most serious restrictions”.

Sir Keir said: “There probably is more that we could do.

“An example is the question of whether nurseries should be open.”

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