On Friday 19th June was the ninth anniversary of the murderous attack on Muslims leaving taraweeh prayers at a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London (UK). One man was killed and several were injured, some with life changing injuries.  This is our response to the mayor, and some notes for the possible new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham.
Mayor of London (then and now) posted this on X:
Nine years on from the horrific terrorist attack in Finsbury Park, we remember Makram Ali, whose life was sadly taken on this day, and his loved ones who continue to carry the pain of this loss. My thoughts today are with all those who were affected by this horrific act of…
— Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan (@MayorofLondon) June 19, 2026
This is our response to him, posted on X.
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We remember this attack very well. It was horrific. The target of this attack was Al-Quds Day, which had been subjected to a more intense Far-Right and Zionist campaign of demonisation, than usual.
The mayor is forgetting he was part of that pile on; and that environment of hate radicalised the attacker.
On the off chance, Mayor Khan, you have forgotten, here is the letter we sent to you after the attack, expressing our disappointment at your actions.
We never did get the apology we asked from you.
We sent you this document showing you what type of threats were being made against the event online
We heard nothing from you.
You were instrumental in helping to demonise a family friendly multi faith event that stands for equality and liberation against apartheid, division and hatred.
You received many missives from friends of the event, including Jewish activists and groups who regularly attend the event like this one
You chose to ignore them and instead reproduced false narratives against the event and all it stands for.
That type of demonisation has resulted a decade later in an intense environment of racism and violence against racialised communities, especially Muslims.
An attempt at leadership in these times is open to you. To do so you need to do more than instrumentalise the Finsbury Park attack, but tackle the context from which it arose. You need to disavow the politics that created the environment in which Osbourne felt he should attack and kill law abiding Muslims.
We are not holding our breath.
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As we were preparing this response, news came of five stabbings in Edinburgh.
White Scottish man is being investigated by Counter Terrorism Police after five people were stabbed in Edinburgh.
He said after his arrest: “I’m protecting the country from these fucking Muslim bastards raping our young daughters”
pic.twitter.com/OmAhwOghSe— Bushra Shaikh (@Bushra1Shaikh) June 20, 2026
The perpetrator can be heard admitting he was targeting Muslims, based on the false narratives of Muslims as sexual predators and paedophiles.
A few paltry words from the PM, who has overseen a report that promotes just that false narrative, is more of the same hypocrisy. As it seems we will shortly be having a new PM in the UK, it is over to you Andy Burnham. Will you commit to tackling the institutional Islamophobia, whether in government, the media, education or law? Will you do more than mouth a few mealy words of condemnation?
You have the chance to do something right now that could save British society and state descending into even further violence, the majority pitted against the minoritised within our borders, and the political class left free to continue oppressing vast swathes of the global south.
We are not holding our breath here either. It is up to you to prove us wrong.
Images:
Andy Burnham CC 2.0 Deed, from ‘Financial Times 2015 Summer Party hosted by FT Editor Lionel Barber at the Mondrian Hotel in London’
Sadiq Khan from CC Scottish Government
Al-Quds Day 2023, (c) IHRC
