Top 126 Quotes & Sayings by Sadiq Khan

As a British Muslim, I am no stranger to prejudice. I know what it's like to be discriminated against just because of your background or religion.

As someone who lives with adult-onset asthma, I know how bad air quality in the capital has become. I want to be the greenest mayor London has ever had - it is not acceptable that 10,000 people die in London every year because our air is so filthy.

Legal aid gets a bad press. Some rail against handing taxpayers' money to criminals; others attack fat cat lawyers, while some argue that we spend far more on legal aid than other countries. But let's get some facts straight: saying that legal aid is just about criminals is wrong - most goes to people before any decision is taken on their guilt.

I used to do stand-up, actually. I had a ten-minute routine I did for a thing called 'Stand Up for Labour' where we'd go around different seats and use comedy to raise money. I stopped doing this routine when I started running for mayor.

A duty to the public must be to stop prisoners reoffending through successful rehabilitation.

As an ethnically Asian Muslim, born and bred in this country, I am British. I have never felt a conflict between my country, my religion, and my background.

Language is very important. If you are condoning acts of terror... you are giving credibility to a view that is perverse and is wrong.

Everyone - regardless of their background, wealth, race, faith, gender, sexual orientation or age - should be able to fulfil their potential and succeed.

London is the greatest city in the world.

Some people say that rough sleeping has always existed and always will - that there is nothing that can be done to stop it. That is simply not true.

More than 300 languages are spoken in London. Religions are freely practiced. Rich and poor live on the same street, side by side. We've actually escaped many of the most difficult problems - integration and community cohesion.

Letting people out of prison without professional staff to oversee their rehabilitation is irresponsible.

As the mayor of London, my highest priority is keeping Londoners and visitors to our city safe from harm.

The best way for people to understand each other's faith is to share experiences.

I see this rise in rough sleeping and homelessness - in one of the wealthiest cities in the world - as a growing source of shame. And as Londoners, as a city, and as a country, I believe we have a moral duty to tackle it head-on.

I am deeply humbled by the hope and trust that Londoners have placed in me. I grew up on a council estate just a few miles from City Hall, and I never imagined that Londoners would one day elect someone like me to lead our great capital city.

When we are faced with adversity, when we are tested on who we are and what we stand for, we always pull together. We stand strong for our values and our way of life. We always have, and I know we always will.

Change is hard and requires constant struggle and determination.

I grew up on a council estate in south London; my dad was a bus driver and my mum sewed clothes to bring in extra money. My parents worked hard and were able to save up and buy a home for our family.

People end up on the street for many different reasons - leaving care or hospital, problems with debt, unemployment, mental health, family breakup - and so the help they need is varied, too.

When Pakistan beat England at cricket, my Pakistani cousins remind me how English and British I am. When they say, 'You're one of the Queen's advisers,' for them it's, 'Wow - anything's possible in the U.K.'

I don't just empathise with the victims of Islamophobia; I worry about my own friends and family.

We should celebrate when optimism and hard work triumph over cynicism, lethargy, and fatalism.

Probation is a less-well-known branch of our justice system, compared with, say, police and prisons, but that doesn't make it any less important. Hundreds of thousands of offenders each year are rehabilitated back into society by probation, which is crucial for the public's safety.

I'm a proud Londoner, a Brit, European, of Pakistani heritage, a Muslim - we all have multiple layers of identity - that's what makes us who we are.

London's greatest strength is our diversity, and it's wonderful to see Londoners celebrating our capital's different traditions, determined to stand up to division.

I'll be my own man and work closely with a Tory Government if it is in London's interest.

I was fully aware of the challenges facing London before I was elected as mayor, but I didn't anticipate the issue that is likely to define my time as mayor - Brexit.

Major miscarriages of justice have occurred because of the absence of proper legal representation.

It's too easy to dismiss Donald Trump as a buffoon - to point and laugh at a man whose worldview is as ridiculous as his hairdo. But to do so is to make light of a very serious threat.

If I become mayor of London, my single biggest priority will be to build thousands more homes every year. I will set a target to make half of all the new homes that are built genuinely affordable, with first dibs for Londoners.

We should recognise the mirrors of exclusion and mirrors of extremism in our society. The inequalities and disadvantages among visible minorities are also prevalent in the white working class. Political extremism and disengagement is mirrored between white and ethnic minority communities.

All Labour supporters and politicians know that winning elections is extremely difficult, but my first year as mayor of London has taught me that governing - driving change and delivering results - is even harder.

It's not a bad thing for independent traders to come into a high street to mix things up, but what shouldn't happen is that the traders who were there before are priced out.

Victims want to know that the true perpetrators of their crime are convicted - legal aid helps achieve this.

Labour has to be a big tent that appeals to everyone - not just its activists.

I want our police officers to have the resources and training they need to investigate hate crime fully, and to ensure we have neighborhood police teams that understand and reflect the communities they serve.

Immigrant communities have been genuinely accepted in London.

I value loyalty and believe that internal disagreements shouldn't be voiced in the media - because divided parties lose elections.

All Western cities face significant challenges on social integration. Our populations are booming, but social integration is not keeping pace. Rapid growth is a sign of our success, but it also puts stress on housing, infrastructure - and on communities.

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm miserable during Ramadan. Some would say I'm miserable all year round, but it does affect my mood.

Every time there is a terrorist incident involving evil fanatics who abuse the name of Islam, ordinary, law-abiding Muslims pay a heavy price.

Labour was founded to make the lives of working people better and to create more opportunities for everyone. Whether it's aspiring to work as a nurse in a hospital or setting up and running your own business, Labour should be about ensuring fairness so that everyone has the same chance in life to reach their goals.

Islam is misunderstood by many. The extremists grab the headlines; those of us who want to practise our religion and live under this country's laws do not make the news.

The story of the British empire helps to explain the roots of most British people: white, black, and Asian.

I am proud that London is a city where, the vast majority of the time, Jewish people, Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, those who are not members of an organized faith, black, white, rich, young, gay, lesbian - don't simply tolerate each other but respect, embrace, and celebrate each other.

If I'm honest, my heart and my belly are saying that you're more likely to find me in a greasy spoon than a pop-up, but some of this pop-up stuff is great!

There is no manual on how to run a global city like London. But I'm hugely proud of what we've been able to achieve in just the first year.

Jeremy Corbyn is a principled Labour man.

Being reliant on legal aid is probably inconceivable to most of us. But this is no different from other branches of the welfare state established at the same time as our legal aid system - being diagnosed with a major illness and needing the NHS, or losing a job and needing the support of social security.

Vibrant political parties are vital to the health of our democracy.

Londoners, Mancunians, and Brits across the country will never, ever be cowed by terrorism.

My family has always been proud of being British.

I get selfies taken everywhere. Everywhere. I can be in A&E, and I'm still getting selfied. It's nice, though. It's a nice problem to have.

If you're someone who doesn't have Muslim friends, and your only experience of Islam is what you see on the news - the angry man with a beard doing or saying something terrible - then you may inadvertently associate that with Islam and think that is what it's all about.

Legal aid is central to righting wrongs and rectifying injustice.

Like most people, my parents were only able to fulfil their dreams because there was support. A council home so they could save for a deposit to buy a home of their own. Fantastic local state schools where my own daughters go now. Affordable university places and good quality apprenticeships.

There is a role that Muslims in the public eye play: to reassure people that we are OK.

Legal aid is crucial in ensuring those truly guilty of crimes are convicted after due process, and those innocent are able to clear their names, by ensuring that access to legal representation is available for everyone, regardless of ability to pay.

I've had the honour of being elected as a Labour councillor, MP and mayor, thanks to the hard work of Labour members, and I believe that the will of our membership should be respected.