Labour mayoral contender Sadiq Khan today accused his Tory rival Zac Goldsmith of putting Londoners’ safety and jobs at risk by backing Britain leaving the EU.
Tooting MP Mr Khan launched a scathing attack on Mr Goldsmith after he announced at the weekend that he would be backing the “Brexit” campaign.
“Zac Goldsmith’s desire to leave Europe poses a serious threat to Londoners’ jobs, livelihood and security,” he writes in The Standard today.
“By placing dogma ahead of Londoners interests, it means that he has chosen to jeopardise our place as a global city, put our safety at greater risk and sacrifice our ability to build a better future for all Londoners.”
He stressed that the Tory mayoral contender was at odds with the Prime Minister, Chancellor, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary, Business Secretary and Defence Secretary.
“All the main economic and security posts in Government agree it would be hugely damaging to London to leave Europe,” he added.
Mr Goldsmith’s decision will inevitably cause disquiet among many business leaders in the Square Mile.
Baroness Jo Valentine, chief executive of business group London First, stressed: “London is the business capital of Europe and it benefits hugely from proper access to EU markets and, through them, the world.
“London First will make the case that Britain leading in Europe can help London’s entrepreneurs and the industries of the future.”
Millionaire Mr Goldsmith, the son of arch-Eurosceptic Sir James Goldsmith, backed the “Out” campaign after deciding that the deal that David Cameron succeeded in clinching in Brussels did “not go far enough”.
The MP for Richmond Park and North Kingston argued: “We would be better off out of the EU, and I will be voting to leave.
Read More
“I recognise that opinion in London is at best divided on this issue, and as a mayoral candidate, it would be easier for me to quietly U-turn.
“But I didn’t get involved in politics to test every idea with pollsters, flip flop on the big issues and then carry on regardless once elected.”
He stressed that the most important characteristic of any democracy is that it should be possible for voters to evict those who act in their name.
“The EU fails on that test. Real power in Brussels rests in institutions that are accountable to no one,” he added.
But Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat candidate for Mayor of London, said: “It would be insane to leave and would cost tens of thousands of jobs in London alone.
“History shows that London - and Britain - is better when it is united with Europe.”
MORE ABOUT