No, London Mayor Sadiq Khan did not accuse protesting farmers of 'Islamophobia'

Claim

Following a recent farmers' protest in England against the inheritance tax regime on November 19, social media users began circulating a post claiming that London Mayor Sadiq Khan wants to stamp out the far right. The post also claimed that Khan ascribed the protest to “racism [and] Islamophobia.”

By November 20, this post had gained over half a million views on X. The post is also widely circulating on Facebook. However, we found that Khan had never made such a statement. 

In Fact

Upon repeated searches of news coverage, we found no evidence that Khan had issued any statement regarding the farmers' protest. We contacted the mayor’s office for clarification, and they told us that the mayor had never said anything like this. 

Our research also showed that since November 19, when the farmers’ protest began, all of Khan’s posts on X concerned the results of his new initiative for free school lunches or resources to help people experiencing homelessness during cold nights in London. The mayor also retweeted posts about electric buses, tree-planting initiatives, construction, and violence reduction. However, we found no statements about the farmers' protest.

A review of the Mayor of London Press Office's X account during the same period shows posts similar to Khan’s. Two retweets on the account featured posts from the Metropolitan Police about traffic during the protest. One reads, “We’re asking those who wish to stay in the area to move onto pavements so we can get the roads reopened and minimise further disruption.” The second post notified the public that the roads were no longer closed for the protest. We found no posts commenting on the protest besides reposts about traffic concerns. 

The so-called “Farmers’ Protest” began on November 19 when approximately 10,000  farmers gathered outside of the British Parliament to show their opposition against the inheritance tax that these farmers claim will cripple family farms. 

Previously, generationally handed-down farms were exempt from taxation. Under a new policy, beginning in 2026, a “20% tax would be paid on the value of a farm above 1 million pounds,” according to Reuters.

The verdict

There is no public evidence that Sadiq Khan has made any statement about the farmers' protest. Therefore, we have marked this as false.