Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

Sadiq Khan: Labour leader in waiting?

Labour’s most successful leader in recent times, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has set out a clear path to power for the party to unite and start winning elections.

Khan also appeared to throw down the gauntlet to re-elected leader Jeremy Corbyn, saying Labour needed to win a big sweep of city mayoral elections if it was to stand any chance of bagging “the biggest prize”.


His rousing and highly effective address on Tuesday (September 27) to the Labour party conference in Liverpool received rapturous applause and a near 10-minute standing ovation – led by Corbyn himself.

Mentioning the leader only once by name in his speech, there were hints that the mayor could become a rallying figure for those disillusioned by Labour’s lurch to the left following Corbyn’s decisive win.

In his speech, Khan argued that without power, Labour was but a pale imitation of itself. Only with power could the party look – and crucially act – like a government in waiting.

Politely acknowledging Corbyn’s triumph, he made it clear where Labour priorities should lie. Khan then stressed that only in power could the party meet the challenges the country was facing.

“Now, it’s time for us all to work together towards the greatest prize,” he urged his political colleagues, who packed out the conference centre and gave him a standing ovation as he walked on to the stage.

Highlighting major injustices and inequality that will continue to persist across the land if the Conservative party retains its stranglehold on power at Westminster, Khan cautioned that Labour would not only be failing itself but also the people it sought to serve – often the most vulnerable and needy.

“The people who need us most are those who suffer the most when Labour is not in power,” he said.

Winning elections was at the heart of Khan’s message – he used the phrase ‘Labour in power’ 38 times, sparking a trend on Twitter. Without power, the Labour party could not tackle the problems the country faced in the coming years, he emphasised.

Laying down a clear challenge, he urged the party to win mayoral elections next year in Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham and all the great cities in Britain. If Labour won, it would send a powerful signal to the rest of the country.

“With Labour in power in cities and regions, we can show that our party can be trusted to govern again,” Khan asserted.

“With Labour in power we can demonstrate that we can make a real difference to people’s lives. And with Labour in power, we can prove that we’re ready for government.”

If it failed to win in these cities, he reasoned, it was not just bad for the party but the people in those cities too.

“Labour out of power will never ever be good enough. We can only improve lives with Labour in power. By winning elections.”

He suggested that the internal wrangles and disputes of the last year had deflected Labour from its core message.

“It’s only with Labour in power we can create a fairer, more equal and more just Britain. And when Labour’s not in power, we fail the very people who need us most.”

Winning was not just a duty but a responsibility and one that had to be at the forefront of everything the party did, Khan said.

He said his own victory in May – when he was not the favourite to win but then got a near 57 per cent majority over Conservative Zack Goldsmith – showed what could be done when Labour put its mind to winning and championing change to assist the poorest and weakest in society.

“It’s only when Labour is in power that we get the chance to fix the problems that we care most about, like the housing crisis.”

He offered concrete policy proposals as part of his speech, and said this was putting Labour principles into practice to tackle everyday issues.

“With Labour out of power, the number of affordable new homes built falls. The cost of rent rockets. And the number of homeless people sleeping on our streets rises. But it’s only with Labour in power that we can make tackling the housing crisis our number one priority.”

He said he had already started to tackle the housing shortage in the capital by introducing new measures to encourage affordable house building, capping extortionate private rents and addressing homelessness and looking at ways of helping young people get on the housing ladder.

“Of course we always have to be honest we won’t be able to fix the housing crisis overnight – it’s too serious and entrenched a problem.”

He castigated the Conservative government for playing politics with people’s lives – it has failed to reassure European Union (EU) nationals that their status in Britain will change post Brexit.

Describing the June referendum campaign as “divisive” and “bruising” he lamented: “The future of EU citizens in Britain, who came here because they want to work and contribute, is being used as a bargaining chip.

“That’s wrong, and the government should be ashamed,” Khan said.

Addressing EU nationals directly, he said they were welcome and saluted their “massive contribution” to “our NHS, schools, on construction sites, and in business”.

“You make a massive contribution to our country, economically, socially and culturally. Thank you. You are welcome here.”

Hate crime was on the increase too with a Tory government that clearly had other priorities and was not that interested in social cohesion or community harmony, he said.

Khan called for Britain to have its first deputy mayor for social integration.

“With Labour out of power, hate crime is rising – whether it is anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia or any other form of this vile crime.

“Extremism is a growing problem – whether in the Muslim community or on the far right.”

Throughout his speech on the conference podium, he emphasised Labour was out of the power where it mattered most and that only by getting back in could it hope to tackle the issues.

He stressed that winning elections in the cities offered a way back to Downing Street to accommodate a Labour prime minster.

“It’s only with Labour in power that we can make a real start – and a real difference.”

More For You

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

FILE PHOTO: Keir Starmer (L) with Narendra Modi. (Photo: Getty Images)

Modi set for UK visit to sign free trade agreement

INDIA's prime minister Narendra Modi is likely to travel to the UK by the end of this month for a visit that could see both sides formally sign the landmark India-UK free trade agreement and explore ways to expand bilateral ties in the defence and security sphere, diplomatic sources said.

Both sides are in the process of finalising the dates for Modi's visit to the country by the end of July or the first part of August, they said.

Keep ReadingShow less
Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

Rishi Sunak. (Photo by Carl Court/Getty Images)

Rishi Sunak returns to Goldman Sachs, will donate salary to charity

FORMER prime minister Rishi Sunak has returned to the banking world as senior adviser at Goldman Sachs group, with plans to donate his salary to the education charity he recently established with his wife Akshata Murty.

The US-headquartered multinational investment bank, where Sunak worked before entering politics, made the announcement on Tuesday (8) after the requisite 12-month period elapsed since the British Indian leader's ministerial term concluded following defeat in the general election on July 4 last year.

Keep ReadingShow less
 Post Office Horizon

A Post Office van parked outside the venue for the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry at Aldwych House on January 11, 2024 in London.

Getty Images

Post Office scandal linked to 13 suicides, says inquiry

Highlights:

 
     
  • Public inquiry finds up to 13 suicides linked to wrongful Post Office prosecutions.
  •  
  • Horizon IT system faults led to false accusations, financial ruin, and imprisonment.
  •  
  • Sir Wyn Williams says Post Office maintained a “fiction” of accurate data despite known faults.

A PUBLIC inquiry has found that up to 13 people may have taken their own lives after being wrongly accused of financial misconduct by the Post Office, in what is now described as one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British history.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK ramps up drought response following driest spring

The EA has begun conducting more compliance checks on high-usage industries

Getty Images

UK ramps up drought response following driest spring since 1893

Key points

  • Spring 2025 was England’s driest and warmest in over 130 years
  • Reservoirs across England only 77% full, compared to 93% average
  • Environment Agency increases monitoring and drought planning
  • North-west England officially declared in drought

Water conservation measures stepped up ahead of summer

The UK government has increased efforts to manage water resources after confirming that England experienced its driest and warmest spring since 1893. The Environment Agency (EA) reported that reservoirs were on average only 77% full, significantly lower than the usual 93% for this time of year.

The announcement came after a National Drought Group meeting on Thursday, which reviewed the impact of continued dry weather on crops, canal navigation, and river flows. Poor grass growth and dry soil conditions were noted as threats to food production and livestock feed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Norman Tebbit

Following Thatcher’s third general election victory in 1987, Tebbit stepped back from frontline politics to care for his wife. (Photo: Getty Images)

Getty Images

Former minister, Thatcher ally Norman Tebbit dies at 94

Norman Tebbit, a close ally of former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher and a former Conservative Party cabinet minister, has died at the age of 94. His son William confirmed the news on Tuesday.

"At 11:15 pm on 7th July, 2025, Lord Tebbit died peacefully at home aged 94," William Tebbit said in a statement.

Keep ReadingShow less