London mayor brushed off interruption by White Pendragons by jokingly labelling them ‘what some would call very stable geniuses’
A group of protesters backing Donald Trump and Brexit have disrupted a speech by the London mayor Sadiq Khan.
Khan’s address on gender equality to the Fabian Society in central London was suspended for several minutes on Saturday morning while demonstrators from a group called the White Pendragons made their protest.
Shortly after Khan began speaking at the society’s new year conference, one man told the audience: “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re here today to make a non-violent, peaceful citizen’s arrest.”
Audience members began to heckle and slow-clap, and security guards entered the auditorium.
The protesters resisted attempts to remove them, claiming they would sue anyone who touched them for “common assault”. Several police officers then moved in to escort them from the venue.
When Khan resumed his speech he quipped: “On the plus side, I wasn’t served with a P45” – a reference to Theresa May’s disastrous Tory conference speech that was interrupted by a prankster.
The London mayor added: “It is a pleasure to be here even though we were distracted by the actions of what some would call very stable geniuses.”
Last Saturday Donald Trump, the US president, used the same phrase to describe himself in a tweet following questions about his mental health.