Sadiq Khan accused of lying about ‘swatikas’ outside his home

Sir Sadiq Khan has been accused of lying after suggesting activists parked a caravan with swatiskas on it near his home. The "Khanavan" was placed by an anonymous group of opponents the expansion of London's Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in August 2023. They have complained to the publisher of the Mayor of London's book Breathe, claiming the passage is libellous. It read: "For several days, a caravan was chained by my home bearing slogans and artwork that included swastikas." Sir Sadiq also wrote that critics "targeted" his wife and daughters, and a letter with a bullet inside was mailed to him.

A spokesperson for the "Khanavan" group said said when asked if they had considered legal action: "We have [but] unfortunately as we have not been named individually, current libel laws are unhelpful. We can however prove that we have been potentially put at risk, if ever identified by name, such as in any news feature or articles, as the lie exists and people have already formed opinions and voiced them as to what they believe we are like from Khan’s lies.

"The legal costs were too prohibitively expensive, for what was only a consultation, with no guarantee that they would take the case on.

"Yet the Mayor can use £7million of taxpayers' money to protect his reputation and promote London for tourism, instead of addressing the issues.

"He has directly ignored, not answering the question when put to him about the swastika lies, but smirked instead, the man thinks he is untouchable."

Penguin Random House told the group: "We have looked into the issues you have raised, which have been passed to us in the legal department.

"In summary, we reject your allegations that the passage complained of gives rise to any legal claim in libel or otherwise.

"No individual or entity is identifiable from the book as the subject of the allegedly libellous statement.

"Further, you have not identified yourselves in your complaint, and we are unable to confirm whether you are the individuals behind the Khanavan as claimed.

"As there is no actionable legal claim in the matter we reject the requests set out in your email.

"Without prejudice to this, we take matters of factual accuracy in our books extremely seriously and should we consider any changes to be required to the text for such reasons of accuracy, we will make them on a purely editorial basis in future reprints and editions of the book."

The Express has contacted Penguin Random House for comment.

A spokesperson for Sir Sadiq declined to comment.

In 2025, the year one report into the expanded ULEZ concluded that roadside NO₂ concentrations in outer London were on average up to 4.8% lower than would have been expected without the enlargement.

It added that the expansion "has had no negative impact on footfall and spend in the outer London area, or at a London-wide level".

In July 2025, City Hall said that, since ULEZ became London-wide on August 29 2023 and up to the financial period ending the 26 April 2025, the total revenues generated from the scheme were around £394million.