Hope will trump fear: Khan and Hall issue call for unity

MPs return to Westminster amid storm over Lee Anderson

- Nicholas Cecil and Ross Lydall

SADIQ Khan and Susan Hall united today to issue a call for zero tolerance of racism in the London mayoral election battle.

The Labour and Tory rivals both condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia as the storm grew over Lee Anderson's "Islamists" rant against the Mayor of London.

Together they sent out a powerful message that "fear, division and hatred" must be defeated and that "no matter our backgrounds or our political beliefs, we are all part of the same London community".

They spoke out as MPs returned to Westminster following the ugly and chaotic scenes in the bust-up last week over a vote on a Gaza ceasefire.

With tensions running high, the Mayor wrote in the Standard: "We are facing some very difficult times, with the politics of extremism, division and blame becoming more mainstream. But I remain hopeful because I know that the decent majority in our city and country believe in our British values of equality, openness and respect for diversity. That's why I'm confident that, working together, we will be able to stamp out antisemitism and Islamophobia, stop the march of hard-Right populism, and show that hope, unity and love will always trump fear, division and hatred."