Sadiq Khan once called Boris Johnson a “blithering, Bullingdon, Bollinger drinking buffoon” but that hasn’t stopped Khan, a potential candidate to be Labour Mayor, going cap in hand to him. Khan is running the London Marathon for the Dispossessed Fund, this newspaper’s charity.
“Dear Boris,” Khan says in a letter to the Mayor asking for sponsorship. “Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to run the Marathon — I’ll do that!” Khan doesn’t promise to beat The Times’ Matthew Parris, former Tory MP, who has the record for the fastest time for a Parliamentarian, “Finishing is my main aim, although I’m also hoping to beat Ed Balls — let’s call it an alignment of interests.”
But the letter takes a cheeky turn when it comes to how much Boris could cough up. “By your own account, you can afford to sponsor me handsomely. You once described the £250,000 a year you earn from your Daily Telegraph column as ‘chicken feed’. Well, how about spending just a little of that to feed the hopes and ambitions of young Londoners who are struggling to make ends meet?”
Khan also asks Boris is he would join him on a training run or “if you’re out of practice at running, you could always join me on one of your bikes”.
