Susan Hall: Tory mayoral candidate refuses to apologise after suggesting Jewish people are ‘frightened’ by Sadiq Khan

The Conservative Party candidate for London mayor has refused to apologise after she claimed Jewish communities were “frightened” by Sadiq Khan.

Susan Hall, who was selected to run for the mayoralty in July, made the comments at the Conservative Friends of Israel event on the fringes of the Tory party conference in Manchester.

Her remarks attracted immediate criticism from the community, being branded as “vile” and “dog whistle politics”.

But asked by Sky News if she wanted to apologise, Ms Hall “I will never apologise for standing up for our Jewish community.”

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During the event on Monday, Ms Hall asked for “as much help as [she] can get in London” because Mr Khan “needed to be defeated”.

“I know how frightened some of the community is because of the divisive attitude of Sadiq Khan,” she said.

“One of the most important things that I will do when I become mayor of London is to make it safer for everyone, but particularly for our Jewish community.

“I will ask for as much help as I can get in London, because we need to defeat him.”

Image: Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, Susan Hall, was speaking at the party’s conference in Manchester

Asked by Sky News why she had made the comments about Mr Khan, Ms Hall claimed they had been misinterpreted.

“I said Jewish people are frightened on our streets and I will never apologise for standing up for our Jewish community,” she said.

And asked if she regretted her language, she said: “I regret people misunderstand what I say, that’s what I regret.”

She also defended her remarks on GB News, saying: “I am just going back to policing. The way policing is in London, so many Jewish people do not feel safe. That’s wrong and I will never apologise for defending the Jewish community.

“I have got so many friends that are literally talking about leaving the country because they don’t feel safe. That is unacceptable in London.”

Asked if those friends were Jewish, she added: “Yes. Yes, going to Israel. It shouldn’t be in that state. Since Sadiq Khan has taken over, these sort of attacks have doubled – literally doubled, over 1,000 or around about 1,000 this year… but that’s not good enough.”

However, according to the Community Support Trust (CST) – a Jewish charity which monitors antisemitism – there were 447 incidents in Greater London between January and June 2023, which was a fall of 4% from the same period last year.

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Ms Hall’s comments at the fringe event drew criticism from both politicians and Jewish groups.

Labour’s shadow health secretary, Wes Streeting, said her remarks were “divisive and disgusting”.

“Sadiq Khan has repeatedly stood by London’s Jewish communities in the fight against antisemitism,” he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“Susan Hall’s dog whistle politics have no place in London. Will decent Conservatives ever call this out?”

Mike Katz, the chair of Jewish Labour, said Ms Hall was “vile, ignorant and wrong” and urged her to apologise.

“Sadiq has consistently gone out of his way to work with the Jewish community. He stood with Jewish Labour when we spoke out on antisemitism in Labour,” he said.

“For Susan Hall to try to use this as a dog whistle is beneath contempt. She should apologise.

The Jewish Labour Movement accused Ms Hall of “gutter divisive politics that seeks to use the Jewish community as political pawns”.

“We had quite enough of this from Jeremy Corbyn and saw him off – and have no patience for it from Susan Hall,” it said.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews said Mr Khan had “treated our community with friendship and respect”.

The organisation said it hoped to hold a hustings with all the candidates before the mayoral vote next May “where it will be clear that while London Jews may have varying political views, there is no fear present at all”.

The Conservative Party has declined to comment.