It seems the London Mayoral election campaign has come full circle – the only difference being it is now the Conservative candidate, not one of his flunkies, who is trying to put people off by referring to his opponent’s religion.

Back in January, This Blog reported that Mr Goldsmith’s campaign chiefs were investigating an “Islamophobe canvasser” who had been referring to Mr Khan as “the Muslim”.

Even at that time, Tory election leaflets were describing Mr Khan as “radical” – a loaded word, if ever there was one, when discussing a follower of Islam – and “divisive”. Some may object to any Tory using this word, when the current Conservative Government is doing so much to create division in the UK.

Then, in March, Mr Goldsmith launched a scaremongering campaign focusing on Mr Khan – further evidence that he was using the classic Tory “divide and rule” tactic.

And last week, former Tory parliamentary candidate Shazia Awan turned on Mr Goldsmith, calling his campaign “disgraceful”, “patronising”, “ugly”, “destructive” and “divisive” and saying she was “ashamed” of Goldsmith, accusing him of being “weak” and “fickle” and slating his tactics as “desperate”, “foolish” and “crude”.

Now this.

Goldsmith, who was forced to resign in shame from his position as patron of disability charity Richmond AID after he voted in support of a punitive £30 per week cut in Employment and Support Allowance payments for claimants in the Work-Related Activity Group, is clearly in serious trouble.

Perhaps these latest scurrilous remarks are his way of throwing in the towel?

Zac Goldsmith, the Tory mayoral candidate for London, cast himself as on the side of the “heroes” while his Labour rival’s career “involved coaching people how to sue our police”.

At the launch of Goldsmith’smanifesto, which focused on green issues, housing and transport, the Tory MP opened a new front over law and order claiming his opponent would be soft on crime because he “provided cover for extremists”.

In his speech, Goldsmith said Labour’s Sadiq Khan was a politician who had “given platforms, oxygen and even cover – over and over and over again – to those who seek to do our police and capital harm”.

He added that Khan, the Muslim son of a bus driver, “has tried to silence questions about his links [to extremists] by shamelessly accusing anyone who raises them of being Islamophobic”.

Source: Zac Goldsmith accuses Sadiq Khan of ‘giving cover to extremists’ | Politics | The Guardian

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