Donald Trump tells UN meeting London wants “to go to sharia law”

US president Donald Trump has claimed in an address to the United Nations that London wants to “go to sharia law”.

Speaking to the UN General Assembly in New York on Tuesday, Trump again attacked London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan and also criticised UN assistance for asylum seekers.

“I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor, terrible, terrible mayor, and it’s been changed, it’s been so changed,” he said. “Now they want to go to sharia law. But you are in a different country, you can’t do that.”

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq said of Trump’s comments: “We are not going to dignify his appalling and bigoted comments with a response.”

They continued: “London is the greatest city in the world, safer than major US cities, and we’re delighted to welcome the record number of US citizens moving here.”

Trump has repeatedly attacked Sir Sadiq since 2015, when the Labour politician condemned the then presidential hopeful’s suggestion that Muslims should be banned from travelling to the US.

During last week’s state visit, the president said Sir Sadiq was “among the worst mayors in the world” and claimed he had asked that the mayor not attend events during the visit, including a state banquet hosted by the King at Windsor Castle.

Sir Sadiq said he was “indifferent to President Trump” and had “more important things to worry about”.

Sir Sadiq did not attend the state banquet and the BBC understands he did not seek or expect an invitation. A source close to the mayor said Trump’s politics sowed “fear and division”.

In 2019, Trump called the mayor “a stone-cold loser” and Sir Sadiq accused him of stirring up far-right politics.

Some of London’s Labour MPs rallied to Sir Sadiq’s defence following President Trump’s latest comments.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he was “not trying to impose sharia law on London” but was “a mayor who marches with Pride, who stands up for difference of background and opinion, who’s focused on improving our transport, our air, our streets, our safety, our choices and chances”.

Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq described Trump’s comments as “blatant bare-faced lies”.

Rosena Allin-Khan, Sir Sadiq’s successor as MP for Tooting, called for the US ambassador to be summoned over the remarks.

During his speech before the UN General Assembly, President Trump singled out London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan for criticism, claiming: “I look at London, where you have a terrible mayor – terrible, terrible mayor. Now they want to go to Sharia law.”

If Trump is implying here that London – under Sir Sadiq – is moving its legal system to Sharia law, then this is false.

There have been false claims about the implementation of Sharia law in London circulating for years on social media.

In 2020, several posts on Facebook showed an image of Sadiq Khan with a quote saying: “We are trialling shakira [sic] law in three of London’s boroughs right now. We will then roll it out in the remaining thirty next year”.

At the time, the mayor’s office told Reuters news agency that this quote – which misspelled the word sharia – was fabricated.

Sharia law is an Islamic legal system and Sharia councils do exist in the UK – there were an estimated 85 across the UK in 2009, according to one think tank.

Most of their work deals with religious marriage arbitration and they may also rule on financial matters but the UK government has been clear that their rulings are “not legally binding”.

“Ultimately, the only places in our country that deliver legally binding rulings are our courts”, said Justice Secretary Chris Grayling on Sharia councils in 2016.