Sadiq Khan heckled for not having a ‘hybrid car’ by angry traffic protesters

Sadiq Khan has faced some serious disruption at his campaign launch for a second term as London Mayor.

The mayor and his team were left stuck in a cafe for over an hour as a group of six protesters refused to abandon the event.

Khan had chosen the Hot Milk cafe in North London to address the media as the next set of local elections rear their heads in May. 

He found himself and his team unable to leave the venue after a group of protesters arrived to protest the local implementation of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) in their area.

LTN’s have been placed within many London boroughs over the past year, causing a host of problems. They are essentially a means of blocking roads in the area for everyone but cyclists and walkers, to encourage less car use.

Critics of the scheme believe it was poorly executed and fails to discourage people from actually driving - many have just experienced traffic-filled residential areas with car diversions instead.

A Twitter video shows the Mayor exiting the café to sustained commentary from one individual, later revealed to be a man named Roland Hughes. Hughes is further outraged when his heckles go ignored by Khan, who steps into a black Range Rover to make an exit.

He takes a break from heckling to make an oddly hilarious observation.

“I thought it would have been a hybrid at least”, he concludes as he reached the Mayor’s car.

Hughes told the Evening Standard, “We didn’t really feel that we looked like a threatening mob and we just wanted to ask some questions. It’s all about stage-managed photo opportunities, as far as we can tell, and he’s been holed up in the cafe with the door being held shut. It’s been a bit odd.”

The car in question is actually believed to be one of the Metropolitan Police’s vehicles.

Labour’s mayor is fighting to keep his job after serving for five years. He faces competition from Conservative candidate Shaun Bailey and Green Party candidate Siân Berry, among others. The elections were meant to take place in May last year but were held off due to Covid-19.

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