On 31st August at the commemoration of the second world war, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan has warned that the rise of populists in Europe resembles the situation eighty years ago. Speaking at an event in Poland alongside other world leaders, he emphasised on the divisive language being used by some leaders and hatred being spread against minorities.
“Are we living through times now similar to the 1930s? Because if you look at the 1930s, what happened - the rise of charismatic leaders using the power of hatred to divide communities and to pick on the other.
“Look at some of the things happening (now) across Europe. People are trying to divide communities using the language of hate, scapegoating people because of their sexual orientation, because of their ethnic origin, because of their faith, or because of who they are,” Khan said.
“Look at the language of Donald Trump and some other leaders who are winning elections across Europe, from Hungary to Poland, to France, to Italy, to the UK. They say Islam and the West are incompatible,” Khan concluded.
