British government gets in not-so subtle dig at lefty London mayor Sadiq Khan and his policing policies by stating the Rwandan capital is now “arguably safer than London”.

The governing Conservatives are pushing to pass its Rwanda deportation scheme enabling law, which anti-borders activists have decried as morally wrong because Rwanda is a safe place for migrant resettlement. In comments before Monday nights’ votes to make the bill law, Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell hit back at the claims, stating some of the attacks on African state Rwanda as being unsafe and badly governed were tantamount to racism.

He said, noting the progress the country had made since the genocide: “It is absolutely extraordinary what the Rwandan government have achieved in all walks of life. It is a safe country… Some of the discussions that have gone on in the Lords about the judicial arrangements within Rwanda have been patronising and, in my view, border on racism.”

Making his point while getting in an attack on London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who in the minds of some has become synonymous with London’s rise in lawlessness in recent years, Mitchell said: “…indeed, if you look at the statistics, Kigali is arguably safer than London. I have no doubt at all about the safety of Rwanda and the efficacy of the scheme.”

Mayor Khan has attempted to downplay London crime levels, leading to an embarrassing fact-check by a body of the UK Statistics Authority in December. The Mayor’s office had claimed “knife and gun crime, homicides and burglary have all fallen since 2016” when Sadiq Khan was first elected to the post… as a result of the mayor’s relentless focus on tackling violent crime”. Director General for Regulation at the UK Statistics Authority and Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) Ed Humpherson said in response that knife crime had “significantly increased” in that period and said he would encourage the mayor to correct the claims.

He said: “Part of the statement is incorrect and has the potential to mislead the public”.

In 2022, Khan’s office attempted to blame rising levels of crime on the weather and the economy.