Khan also labelled Musk a 'billionaire bully' and called for greater pressure on social media firms to tackle misinformation
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan speaks during Diwali celebrations in Trafalgar Square, London, Britain, on October 27, 2024. — Reuters file
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan warned of western "reactionary populists" posing a "century-defining challenge" for progressives in an article on Sunday, the eve of Donald Trump's return to the White House.
"Progressives across the Western world face a century-defining challenge — and the stakes for liberal democracy couldn't be higher," the Labour mayor wrote in weekly The Observer.
"By exploiting economic concerns and a growing distrust of political and media institutions, these reactionary populists have been able to attract new supporters," Khan wrote, citing the popularity of far-right parties in Germany and France as well as the return of Trump in the US.
"We should be in no doubt, this is a perilous moment. The spectre of a resurgent fascism haunts the west," added Khan, one of Britain's most high-profile Asian-origin politicians and a vocal critic of the American president elect.
However, Britain's Labour government swiftly distanced themselves from the comments.
"I speak on behalf of the government and we don't agree with it," Treasury Secretary Darren Jones told the BBC when asked about the article.
"I agree with the government that we need to be pragmatic on the international stage," wrote Khan, echoing the rhetoric of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's administration, which is eager not to damage relations with Trump and his team.
"But progressives around the world should never yield ground to the far right, nor be afraid to speak truth to power."
Khan also labelled Elon Musk, owner of X, a "billionaire bully" and called for greater pressure on social media firms to tackle misinformation.
During Trump's first term in power, Khan became embroiled in a war of words after speaking out against a US travel ban on people from certain Muslim countries.
Trump had then accused Khan — the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital when he was first elected in 2016 — of doing a "very bad job on terrorism", calling him a "stone cold loser" and "very dumb".
In a podcast recorded before Trump's re-election on November 5, Khan accused the incoming president of targeting him because of the colour of his skin.
"He's come for me because of, let's be frank, my ethnicity and my religion," he said.
However, in a interview with AFP in December, Khan said the American people had "spoken loudly and clearly" and "we have got to respect the outcome of the presidential elections"
Several Labour MPs now in senior government posts, including Foreign Secretary David Lammy, were critical of Trump while they were in opposition during his first White House term, and have now backtracked on their comments.
In 2018, Lammy labelled him a "woman-hating, neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath". But Britain's now-top diplomat in November dismissed the remarks as "old news".