London Mayor cleared following standards investigation into ULEZ “Covid deniers” comment

An independent investigation commissioned by the Greater London Authority following complaints about comments made by Sadiq Khan that inferred ULEZ objectors were “joining hands” with far-right conspiracy theorists and Covid deniers has concluded the Mayor did not breach the Code of Conduct.

The GLA's monitoring officer, Rory McKenna, who commissioned the report, has since issued a decision notice confirming the Code of Conduct was not breached.

McKenna received 34 complaints about comments made by Khan during a rowdy 'people's question time' event in March of this year.

During the town hall session, which saw the Mayor take a series of questions from the public, Khan made the following comments:

"What I find unacceptable is some of those with legitimate objections joining hands with someone outside part of a far-right group, who are ... some of those outside ... some of those outside ... ... let's be frank, let's call a spade a spade. Some of those outside are part of the far-right, some are COVID deniers, some are vaccine deniers and some are Tories.

"Some of you have good reasons to oppose ULEZ, but you are in coalition with COVID deniers, you are in coalition, you may not like it... you may not like it. You may not like it. You may not like it. You are in coalition with the far right and you are in coalition with vaccine deniers as well.

"In relation to, first I am really sorry about your wife's ill-health. I am glad to see you are doing better. By the way there are far-right people outside. They were outside. If you, you should be careful who you campaign with."

The complainants alleged that the Mayor had breached a number of sections of the Authority's Code of Conduct for GLA Members.

The GLA's monitoring officer, Rory McKenna, decided that the complaints should be considered against the following provisions of the Code:

3(1): "You must treat others with respect"

3(1)(2)(a): "You must not – do anything which may cause you or the Authority to breach the Equality Act 2010 …"

3(2)(b): "You must not – bully, victimise or harass any person …"

5: "You must not conduct yourself in a manner which could reasonably be regarded as bringing your office or authority into disrepute."

Matt Lewin of Cornerstone Barristers was appointed to investigate the complaints.

In his report, Lewin said the Mayor was exercising his rights of freedom of expression, which is protected by both Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the common law.

He added: "Crucially for the purposes of this investigation, statements on political issues or other matters of general public interest attract 'enhanced protection' under the law, meaning that in practice there are relatively few limits which can be imposed on 'political speech'. As a result, even statements which offend, shock or disturb are protected by the law."

Lewin said that if the Code of Conduct process "too readily interferes with comments made by elected representatives, this would exert a 'chilling effect' on freedom of speech and would therefore undermine the democratic process".

The report also noted that some protestors outside the event were, in fact, expressing conspiracy theories that are associated with far-right political views, as shown in news reports on the event and images posted online of signs used by protestors.

Lewin first tackled the allegations that Khan breached his obligation to treat others with respect under paragraph 3(1) of the Code.

He found the Code was not breached, writing: "The obligation in the Code to treat others with 'respect' must be read in a way that gives effect to the Mayor's right of freedom of expression. In my view, this means that only in exceptional cases would comments made in the course of a political debate – something akin to 'hate speech' – constitute a breach of this obligation."

Addressing the allegation that the Mayor's comments constituted bullying, harassment and victimisation, which are prohibited under paragraph 3(2)(b) of the Code, Lewin said he would not uphold the complaints for "essentially the same reasons" as for the allegation of disrespect.

A complaint that alleged Khan's comments brought his office into disrepute (paragraph 5 of the Code) was also dismissed by Lewin.

His report said: "A finding of disrepute typically follows from some kind of misuse of elected office. That is not the case here, where the objections are to statements made by the Mayor on a controversial issue of policy which, as I have found, did not themselves amount to a breach of the Code."

Three of the 34 complaints alleged that the Mayor breached the Equality Act 2010 by using the phrase: "call a spade a spade".

The complaints centred on the use of "spade", which acquired a racist meaning in American English during the 1920s.

However, Lewin concluded that the Code was not breached, writing: "I cannot find evidence of a clear consensus that this saying is considered unacceptable in contemporary spoken English."

He added that it is "very doubtful" that a single comment made by the Mayor at such an event could cause him or the GLA to breach the Equality Act 2010.

An independent person was also asked to consider the complaints and Lewin's report. They also concluded that there had not been a breach of the Code.

Adam Carey