SADIQ KHAN: The MP’s not for turning
Like any young MP, Sadiq Khan was eager to make his mark – but his election coincided with a turbulent period in Labour politics. Tony Blair, damaged by the Iraq war and increasingly isolated as he rammed policy changes through his reluctant party, picked a fight over terror laws.
Khan was subjected to first gentle, then heavy pressure to fall in line and back Blair’s plans to let police hold terror suspects without charge for 90 days. But the new MP, who had distinguished himself as a “voice of reason” after the 7/7 London bombings, refused to buckle and, in November 2005, trooped into the “no” lobby with an assortment of Labour troublemakers, malcontents and other refuseniks to help to inflict on Blair his first Commons defeat. For most of the former leader’s remaining time in office, Khan was subtly punished for his rebellion as a series of doors to his political advancement were eased shut.
It should not have come as a shock to Labour’s whips that he should prove so steely. For one thing, the 90-day plan was fiercely opposed by Britain’s Muslim community, which looked to Khan – one of four Muslim MPs – for support. Then there was his background as a human rights lawyer who had appeared in several prominent cases, and had championed black police officers in actions against the Met. It was never likely that the 37-year-old would roll over easily.
Khan, now in the news as the MP allegedly bugged while visiting a terror suspect in prison, is the son of a bus driver and grew up in a council flat in Wandsworth, South London. After comprehensive school he studied law at the University of North London and the College of Law at Guildford.
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With Louise Christian, a left-wing lawyer, he founded a human rights law practice, Christian Khan. His cases included that of Ali Dizaei, the senior Asian police officer who fought a corruption inquiry by the Met. Khan is also legal adviser to the Muslim Council of Britain, and chairman of Liberty, the civil rights organisation.
He always had his eye on politics, becoming a Labour councillor in Wandsworth at the age of 23, and MP for Tooting at the last general election. Inheriting a 5,381 majority, he adopted the hyperactive constituency profile favoured by a new generation of MPs.
With his direct but engaging manner, he became popular among Labour MPs despite his exile under Blair. Early last year Jack Straw appointed him as his unpaid ministerial aide and, under Gordon Brown, his rehabilitation was complete. Last summer he was made a government whip – becoming, with Shahid Malik, the first Muslim members of the Government (though, awkwardly, both are unpaid). His coolness amid the bugging controversy may serve to accelerate his advancement.