Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S3 Ep 4: Sadiq Khan
Episode Date: June 20, 2018Hear ye! Hear ye! Mayor Sadiq Khan announces he’ll stand for re-election! We were honoured to welcome The Mayor of London to mum’s house to break his Ramadan fast. Brushing over the fact that the ...cat was sick on his first bowl of dates, over a fresh bowl we discuss nightlife in London, Trump’s impending visit, Aswad, rising crime rates, racism within football and not forgetting his penchant for fish and chips. Eat up! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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Hello, listeners.
I'm Jessie Ware, and we are back with Table Manners, the podcast.
I'm sat next to...
Why are you laughing?
Hello, listeners.
Can you come to the mic?
We're at season three, Mum.
You should know better.
Say hi.
Hi.
I'm all there now.
So, tonight is a big one.
Yep.
How are you feeling?
I'm very excited because he's someone I truly admire and I've met him a couple of times at your gigs
and he's warm and charismatic.
I actually think he's far more charismatic in person than he is when he gets interviewed on TV.
Poor man just looks exhausted at the moment.
He's running around London trying to sort things out and make progress and make London better for everybody else.
And it's also Ramadan at the moment.
And it's hot today.
It's hot. It's been a hot month to be honest we have the mayor of london
sadiq khan gracing us on table manners the podcast tonight
so sadiq is do we call him mr mayor do we call him sadiq do we call him mr khan
i think it's mr mayor isn't it is it? Is it? I quite like that. It sounds a bit like scandal. It should be in scandal.
Mr. Mayor or Homeland.
Yeah, and it's a huge job, isn't it?
Running one of the biggest cities in the world.
Do you think he's doing a good job?
Yes, I do.
I think he's addressing things that need addressing.
And it's not just about fun.
It's about people having homes to live in.
It's about people being safe clean air clean
air all of those things all the important things that you lay down for the future generations
so it's Ramadan which means that Sadiq is Mr Mayor is fasting so he will be breaking his fast on the
podcast tonight so mum will you go through the menu please muslim
friends have told me that to break your fast it's it's good to have something very sweet
um traditionally people eat dates which gives you a bit of a boost of sugar and obviously lots of
nice water and drinks he'll be hungry so um alex has helped again alex where my brother if you don't know
who that is the the doctor when he's not saving lives he's making our desserts so he's made father
which not a lot of people know about it it's a dip a bit like hummus but it's made with split
split peas and onions and garlic so he's made sweeter. It's kind of denser than.
Yeah, it's denser.
I think we could have put more olive oil in.
I think Alex made the quantities for about 28 people.
I'll take some home.
Never mind.
I've got chopped and fried fish made by my cousin in Manchester.
Okay, so can you explain what chopped and fried fish is?
It's a mixture of fish that you turn into balls with egg and matzo meal.
And I don't think there's any Jewish function celebration that doesn't have fish balls at it.
So I bought fish balls with the traditional dip that we have, which is cream, which is a beetroot and horseradish.
We've got salmon marinated in coconut milk, chili, coriander and onion.
Those are going to be grilled.
That's your job next, Jessie.
Okay.
Will they be in cold?
Warm would be fine.
So we can cook them beforehand.
It's all quite light, picky things.
Yeah, I think that's fine.
I think if you've been fasting, I think that to have a big steak and kidney pie would be too much.
And anyway, I didn't buy halal meat. fasting I think that to have a big you know steak and kidney pie would be too much and anyway um
I didn't buy halal meat I thought fish would probably be a better option and it's lighter
on your stomach when you've been fasting and I've made spanakopita which is a spinach pie
traditional greek spinach pie made with spinach and feta and yes quite a nice salad which is made with chickpeas and sweet potato i mean there's a lot so
he can just pick but there is he won't go hungry there's enough for but probably to cater a party
probably really small though probably is but i imagine that he might come with people
oh yeah probably his people's yeah what is the cat doing the cat is humping the oh shit mom the cat's about to be
sick on your on your on your take him outside oh mate was that a chunder quickly jesse get some
kitchen roll oh mate whilst you sit in your freaking throne legs tired done all the cooking
what's your contribution uh my contribution is excellent
chat about my night with eric canton last night okay let's hear about that i did soccer aid unicef
soccer aid which helped raise over five million for children all over the world and i'm a unicef
ambassador so for me to have sung old trafford andord and to be there, well, at Old Trafford when we love United,
but to be doing it for UNICEF was just so, so special
and I'm so proud of them.
They did so well.
And the cherry on top was the king.
Meeting the king.
Not just meeting the king,
the king asking me if I wanted to stay for a drink.
Ooh, ah. Cantona. meeting the king the king asking me if i wanted to stay for a drink ooh ah canton art
so table manners we have the mayor of london in my mother's kitchen
sadiq khan thank you so much for coming great to be i'm just canvassing early for the next
elections uh just just check in
how you're going to vote next
in May 2020
listen
anything for a vote Lenny
so
of course
it's good to meet your daughter as well
so Jesse goes round there
saying I'm Lenny's daughter
and stuff
of course
I'll head to meet you
can we just
can we say that you accidentally
went to the wrong house
yes
so they probably thought
you were canvassing
I knocked on the door
two doors down
and
she answered the door
and I goes
Denise
I said am I
the wrong house
she goes I think you are
and then
I'm really sorry
as I was walking backwards
then she called her
flatmate out and stuff
and they probably
have tweeted as we speak
they're saying
you know if the mayor
can't get the right house
anyway
let's hope they haven't
but you know
they didn't slam the door
on you though did they
I think I got two Labour votes there.
Yeah.
Well done.
Yeah.
They were lovely.
There were quite a lot of Labour voters.
I hope so.
I hope so.
Meph, all Londoners, Lenny.
Yeah, I know you are.
Not just South London, but yeah.
I know you are.
But I'm pleased that we did it at your house rather than Jess's.
I hear she's really untidy.
How do you know?
Horrible kitchen.
Mr. Meph, come on.
She is.
This was convenient.
Come on, it's South London.
It's great. Perfect. I'm not convenient come on it's South London it's great
perfect
I'm not complaining
and it's a busy time for you
you know
you're doing Ramadan
at the moment
so it's the month of Ramadan
and you probably know this
from when you were growing up
in South London
so we fast from
pre-dawn to dusk
so the fast today
began at
2.52am
so after 2.52am
I can't eat or drink
not even water I know not even a smint i know uh
and the fast opens today at 9 20 and until you're lucky not in manchester because i was there
yesterday and the taxi driver said it finishes at 9 40 yeah so the good news is so it's a lunar
calendar what that means is each year uh it's based on the moon so it said that the month goes
forward by 10 days so it takes 34 years
for it to go all the way around so I remember when I was little having summer
fast they were tough and it's gone all the way around now and so I can't wait
for fast in December and January they're fantastic.
You're the mayor, did you meet with Theresa May today? I mean like you're doing
a lot, you're busy, there's a lot going on.
I was with the Home Secretary today and there's a lot going on and uh i've got a meeting tomorrow morning and so it only starts late
finishes but you know it's not like i'm a you know a junior doctor working silly shifts or
kids taking exams i wonder how that is yeah i mean there are i mean this is the thing that people
don't understand there are concessions and so you know if you're if you're pregnant if you're exams
uh if you're a job that involves you you know needing to have nourishment and stuff there
are concessions and you can give money to charities so you can feed the phrases you can feed a poor
poor person if it's if you can't fast for whatever reason and stuff so i mean but you know there are
literally millions of people around the world who are fasting and it could be worse i could be living
in sub-sahara so it's not we've had a heat wave so the joke amongst the muslim diaspora is you know
it's ramadan when there's a heat wave because sod's law as you know night follows day we've had a brilliant last three and a half weeks haven't we
and it's like oh have you lost weight i usually put on weight because what happens at the end of
a fast is guess what you eat a lot you have the iftar so so what happens is the when you start
the the pre-dawn breakfast is called the sehri. And the meal that opens your fast is called iftar.
And you basically pig out.
And you have sort of four meals in one evening.
And if you've got a mum like mine, it's all fried food.
Or if you've got a mother-in-law like I've got, all fried food.
My father-in-law loves frying food.
So basically, yeah, any idea you can lose weight is not true.
But I've lost a bit, I think, this year.
I want to know when you're sleeping.
Because this is hard, right?
It is.
Unlike some people on this table
lenny it's not because i'm partying all night and uh going clubbing with eric canterbury eric
canterbury you know what i mean uh i watch your twitter feed young lady um so yeah so what the
two things that are the most difficult for me are lack of sleep and uh lack of coffee during the day
uh i need my caffeine and so those i mean i don't really miss the food it's the it's the it's the sleep deprivation and the um and the caffeine and my
wife says to me stay up late i will so what i'll do is yes some days i'll just keep on going until
the the morning breakfast because if i go to sleep it you know i can't then go back so when do you
sleep at the moment i want about four hours hours. So you sleep after the morning breakfast? Yeah, so about three quarters. You're Barack Obama.
Do you go to the mosque as well?
Yeah.
So because after you've eaten, you go to the mosque, yeah.
You see, look at Lenny.
She knows about the Thirali prayer.
So basically at night time after... Every day?
I've not been going for the last few weeks.
I've just been too busy at work and stuff.
So busy.
But it's, you know, the idea is this one month,
you know, I live in one of the richest cities
in the world
but fasting gives me empathy
for those less fortunate
around the world
and it does
and whether you're
the mayor of London
whether you're a porter
whether you're a minicab driver
whether you are a doctor
the rules apply to all of us
so it's a leveller
and so you could be speaking
to anybody around the world
and they'll know about fasting
the joke in tooting is
the one time a day you can't get a minicab is between uh nine and nine thirty because they're
all up in their fast and it's true i challenged anybody listen i know nine half past nine at night
you've had it now so but you were talking about your mother-in-law and your um and your family
you eat a lot of fried food so what do you you, what's the kind of typical Ramadan meal?
Yeah, so the rule in my family now is,
so whenever,
because you know this,
a mum thinks the way to their child's heart
is by feeding them and overfeeding them.
And I don't know if it applies with Lenny and Jason.
Yeah, never knowingly and the caterer.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, quite, quite, quite.
So, but I think my family now realise
that it's not good for me
to have all this fried food and stuff.
So normally,
if I'm going around there
or if I'm at home,
the culture is you open your fast with a date because the story goes the Prophet Muhammad
peace be upon him used to open his fast with a date or water and so you open your fast with a
date have some savories and then the fun begins and then you start eating whatever whatever's
been made in the house and stuff because I'm fasting and I'm working long hours I'm not
cooking so much during the Ramadan so yesterday was my mother-in-law's, my mother-in-law and father-in-law.
He's a fantastic cook.
And they started with savory s'mores,
which I was told were grilled.
I think they were grilled.
Pastries, fruit salad, chickpeas.
They're called chana and matai, sweet Indian dish.
That's just the starter.
Oh.
Yeah, quite.
So that's a pre-starter.
Like this family. Yeah. And the That's a pre-starter. And then, and then,
yeah.
And the main dish,
my in-laws had cooked two different mince dishes,
one with potatoes,
one with red kidney beans,
masoor hu dal,
it's like lentils,
two types of rice,
plow rice,
and white ordinary rice.
There were chapatis made.
Yeah.
Do they make them?
Yeah.
My in-laws are great cooks um and you know
they had all that they've got three children and all them around so it's like you know it was like
heaven manna from heaven and uh they have a break and then you have the desserts and there's five
different types of cakes and uh yeah so it's pretty heavy meal so last night i don't need
for breakfast because it was i'm still full from the dinner was that because it was a sunday and it was kind of a family day or is this kind
of a regular thing during ramadan that you get together the bad news is a regular thing during
ramadan and so yeah i mean that's why you know mum's love and dad's love ramadan because the
kids come around you have a massive meal and stuff but it is it is a family thing is a way of coming
together It is a family thing. It is a way of coming together.
I want to talk about some of the things that are going on in London.
You know, sounds like London.
Yeah.
This is such a good idea.
Thank you very much. So the idea is, I mean, for those lady who aren't in the music business.
Oh, no no she is
she's a momager if you don't know i've seen it on jesse's concert boogie in a way uh you got a
massive round of applause though when jesse name checked you yeah i didn't name check you because
i just didn't think you needed the attention yeah yeah i noticed i think where's my name check
so so the idea is well it's a number of things look you will know, Jesse, you speak to most or read about
the careers of most London artists who are musicians, singers in the industry.
They will tell you the hard graft it was, but they'll also tell you that actually playing
at music venues, live gigs, playing in pubs was really important.
That's how you learn your craft.
That's how you learn your trade, whether it's yourself, whether it's Ade whether it's a you know ed sheeran whoever you talk to florence
of course yeah you earn your trade that way it's great fun for you it's great fun for those of us
fans who get to go to small gig uh what's happened over the last uh eight ten years is the number of
live music venues has been reduced by half so between 2008 and 2016 we lost half of our live
music venues for a variety of reasons one
property if you own if you own a piece if you're in a pub or a live music venue place and i come
along and say listen sell me this to you for x million pounds um i'll turn into luxury flats
you'll say why not because the rent you get is not a big amount also uh i could build flats next
door to your live music venue and then my residents will complain about the noise
and so you can't afford to pay for noise insulation
and on and on, business rates and all the rest of it.
So I've brought in new policies to make it difficult for you
to change the use of that live music venue
from music to a supermarket or flats.
But also we've said if a new developer comes along,
he or she should pay for the noise insulation, not you.
But thirdly, we're giving support to live music venues
to open and to expand all the rest of it.
So we're having this big month in June.
We're encouraging grassroots music venues,
but also this year is 100 years
since the first women got the right to vote.
And so we're particularly pushing women artists.
Amy McCarthy's helping from
radio one um other successful artists are helping up and coming artists helping and we're pushing
women in grime and so we're trying to push in june busking targeting uh helping women and stuff
and the idea is have you know you know grassroots music venues flourished and thriving in but you
know this year the stones played at the london stadium the stones actually you go to the hundred club they played there you know 30 200 years ago yeah
but they've been threatened by developers they've been threatened by people coming along with
fabric like i really appreciate your support fabric because somebody who grew that was my
first kind of foray into raving and i was going out clubbing and that was the best place to
go and when it was going to be taken i we really everyone really appreciated your support of trying
to keep it that's actually that you're doing one of these sounds like london that's right one there
that's a good example we've i've appointed london's first uh night czar yes the best title for a job
well except to you what the funny story is i was going to call
her a nightmare but i thought we had one of those eight years eight years before i was mayor it's
called boris johnson i thought so no so don't don't don't call her a nightmare call her a night
czar and what amy lamaze is doing is amazing she's she's she works with bbc um you know music six and
she does a great job there she's got you know she's really she understands the night economy
but also what happens in nightlife of London.
And what she did, basically,
it's not rocket science.
She got around the table,
the council, the police,
the owner of Fabric,
and said, look, what's the issue?
What are the concerns you've got?
The police have got understandable concerns
about a perception of drugs use.
It was about the two boys that...
Yeah, Lisa, you can understand that Kels was concerned
because you know
you know
they could be accused
of being you know
reckless slash negligent
it was property
it was property
well but at the end of the day
we got it resolved
and
and part
a lot of this is basically
you know
sorting out misunderstandings
before they'd be turning to
licenses being withdrawn
and stuff
because you know what
who wants to live in a city
where there aren't nice places
to go to whether it's theatre whether it's you know gigs whether
it's um uh you know nightclubs whatever it is and actually an amazing stat one out of eight jobs in
london one out of eight are in the nighttime economy and that's why i've been that's why i
pushed for the night tube to run 24 hours a day on a friday saturday i wished it had been there
when i was 16 coming back from fabric i mean, quite. I mean, I was 18, obviously.
Nobody here condones fake ID.
But it's really important.
It's important also if you're a worker, if you're a porter or a doctor working all the hours, God sends.
But also, it's really important for our economy.
It feels safer as well, weirdly.
I feel much safer. Let me tell you an amazing stat.
Come on.
The crime rates on the night tube are less,
so it's less crime than there is in the tube in the daytime.
And actually the complaints there are,
are actually of antisocial behaviour.
So people peeing outside Brixton tube station or whatever,
which we're dealing with,
with the council working closely with us.
But we've got British Transport Police on the underground
and the night overground. But I see people you know jesse you know using the night overground
the night tube as a lifeline to get from a to b not to cause mischief or to do criminality and
stuff it's quick my husband and i were talking i mean he tried to negotiate with me i definitely
didn't do it and i wished i had but when we were talking about when i was going to go into labor
the fact that the night tube was going to be available
was going to be very helpful.
I ended up getting a really overpriced black cab
that took forever in rush hour on a Monday rainy morning.
But it doesn't matter.
But we talked about it.
And I think he had this really great idea
that I was going to be in labour on the night bus
on my way to UCH.
There's not been an example recently
of somebody giving birth on a night bus,
but it'd been great promo for us.
Great promo. Please, all pregnant great please please use the tube yeah so let's talk about food because
this is a food podcast we're going to be able we're going to eat in 10 minutes that's 10 minutes
well we're going to give you a drink is this is this are you are you gagging for a drink yeah
the last the last hour is like 24 hours.
Each minute feels like an hour.
I'm so sorry, we're talking about policies.
And so it's, yeah, so you often see people around London
looking a bit worse for the wear,
looking a bit tired and flagging,
but also looking at their watches very, very often.
So it's one time where when I'm speaking at Iftars,
so this year, for example,
I've done an Iftar in a synagogue
with the Chief Rabbi
how cool is that
so St. John's Synagogue
gorgeous synagogue
St. John's Wood
I know
beautiful
what an amazing synagogue
and the Chief Rabbi
the new Bishop of London
Sarah Mullally
she's wonderful
and Cardinal Vincent Nichols
we opened our fast together
well I was fasting
and
it's the one time
when you're making a speech
where you don't mind
people looking at their watches
because they're looking
at their watches
because they went
up in their fast
and that's the great thing
about London
you know
just think about
where else in the world
would you have
the mayor who is
of Islamic faith
in a non-Muslim country
with the chief rabbi
the leader of the
Catholic church
and the bishop of London
isn't that great
and yeah it's amazing
and that's the sort of
stuff we've been doing
and so
and that's one of the roles I think I have as somebody, you know,
in a position of inverted commas power and influence,
who's of Islamic faith.
Because we all know this.
There are some people who use the name of Islam to do horrible things,
terrorists who justify their actions using Islam.
Many of your listeners may not have met Muslims
or have mates who are Muslim who may sometimes think that's Islam.
And if I can somehow, you know, demystify the myths,
but also explain the true face of Islam,
I'm happy to do so.
But these last few minutes are, you know,
they take a long time.
We have that once a year because we're Jewish.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
But when we make a big deal about that 24 hours,
I tell you, I'm like...
25, Jessie.
Oh dear, I feel like...
But your head starts to bang about four
o'clock you start feeling it yeah yeah well you know so what do you drink when you break your
frost what do you like to do do you like a cup of tea or do you like water so i'll have lots of tea
between yeah you know the the fast breaking and uh beginning all over again mainly mainly so so
you know water is obviously important um but tea's
really important as well yeah and then you go straight straight into the milk not trying to
hint but straight to the middle yeah we got you city we've got you i mean i don't want to
tantalize your taste buds too much we could go through tell you what we've got or we can just
wait okay we've got eight minutes so yeah yeah fine um are your girls um fasting no they've got
exams on this show so i've said they can't fast because are your girls fasting no they've got exams this year
so I've said
they can't fast
because
are your cats enjoying
enjoying the
oh no
what's your cat called
Prince
no he's just
walking in the sink
mum have you got any more
those were the dates
that you were going to
break the fast with
so for those who can't
watch what's going on
so Lenny's cat
was enjoying
no no it's fine
it's fine
Prince you're dead to us
get out
you're a disgrace
he's driving me mad today
I don't know what he's doing
so
no
long days
they've got exams and stuff
it's just
it's oppressive
for you know
so I've said to them
they shouldn't fast and stuff
they'd like to fast
but no
it's really hard
yeah I bet
I mean I feel really mean
talking about food
when we're about to break
no it's okay
so let's talk
okay so we ask everybody,
which table manner do you dislike in others?
Or do you have a bad table manner yourself?
I've got loads.
Oh, come on then.
My elbows are currently on the table as we speak.
Oh, yeah, but snap.
So there's a phrase, there's all the word,
which is called,
what means is you're so comfortable with somebody else,
you can just forget any table manners.
And so when you're with your mum a bit, you eat differently to how you eat if you're with
eric kantiner i mean i definitely tried to be a lady with my red wine last night exactly so it's
and so short answer is when i'm with friends and family the all the table manners go out the window
and you can just everything everything everything goes um i'm known to eat very very fast me too
that's why i knew we'd get on.
Well, I've got six brothers and a sister,
and so the rule was,
unless you eat quick, you don't eat.
That's what I agree.
Yeah, I agree.
And so my explanation for speaking fast
and eating fast is...
The kettle's on, sorry.
That's fine.
Can you turn it off?
He needs to have a cup of tea.
No, it's fine.
Honestly, you can turn the kettle off.
If it enhances the quality of this podcast.
I'm willing to make that sacrifice.
But no, so as far as, I mean, I'm quite easy about table manners and stuff.
I've never been a snob about, you know, the way the fork goes and all the rest of it and stuff.
Eat with our hands.
That's what we do.
There's a great story about Bill de Blasio, the New York mayor, who had a great campaign running to be mayor.
Yeah.
And one day his poll numbers went down.
And they're trying to find out why his poll numbers went down is because he had been filmed the night before
eating pizza with a knife and fork and new yorkers thought that's how you eat pizza um but no i'm
quite that's amazing i'm quite easy as far as tail burners are concerned so you do like to go to gigs
i do yes so you know i've always enjoyed going to gigs it's just that now i've noticed more
when you went to jesse's they're all kind of looking up at you i've been enjoyed going to gigs it's just that now I've noticed more when you went to Jesse's they're all kind of
looking up at you
and pointing at you
I've been a fan of Jesse's
before I was the mayor
that's so sweet
and so it's interesting now
because people think
crikey
the mayor's here and stuff
and he likes music
and it's not because I'm mayor
I've always liked music
and so
Florence was great
she was worn up
to the stones
oh yes
in the stadium
she was amazing
she's brilliant
she only played a couple
of her new tracks but she played all the classics which is great just like school and
i know i know indeed i know indeed and she came out and did a duet with uh the stones yeah i heard
that that was so cool actually i was with one of her best mates and we were at the all points east
festival in uh hackney it's a new one and she said babe what you doing today she went oh i'm
just singing with the stones babe yeah nice as you do as you do
says the woman
who's with Eric Cantona
last night
you know having red wine
yeah you know what I mean
talking about scorpions
yeah
we've got a minute to go
so I'm going to get you
a glass of water
great thank you
and have we got new dates
because Prince ate the other one
I've just got those
out in
Jessie you'll be pleased
to know this
we believe that
somebody who breaks
somebody's fast
in other words
gives them dates
and or food
you get the same
reward for helping
me break my fast
as I get for fasting
oh really
so how cool is that
for you Lenny
all these blessings
you're receiving
for feeding me
you're a mensch
mum
yeah absolutely
right
there you go
eat up Sadiq
so you talk
while I mensch away
okay yeah
alright fine
we'll take you through the menu now
we'll talk about the menu
that cat
he's been sick twice tonight
he's an attention seeker
I do not condone killing cats
no I don't
I'm not even annoying ones
I love him but he's very bad
do you have any pets
we have a puppy called Luna love him but do you have any do you have any pets we have a
puppy called luna which is now not eight months old labrador she's fantastic how are you finding
it it's having babies yeah first yeah oh my god the first two months it's having kids again i want
him to eat a bit so go through the menu so it's kind of a mixture of different things so there's
some i've just come back from gree Greece because I've got a little house there.
And I love it very much.
And I've got...
So I made fava, which is...
Oh, yes.
Yeah, yeah.
You know what fava is.
So it's split peas.
I brought these back from my cousin.
She made them for you.
I've been in Manchester this week.
They're gevultavish balls.
Oh, okay.
So I thought you'd quite like that.
Yeah.
And then we've got some salmon
those are special
Jewish pieces
and I made a spanakopita
which is a
spinach pie
which might work or might not
it's a bit like the
multicultural, multi-religious
I guess we kind of
when we've broken
fasts
well when I'm being
a good Jew
she's always a good Jew
she's always a good Jew
don't know about that
but yeah
so it kind of
you know
we just
it's what
we eat
but we also just kind of
I don't know
we also over cater
so it's just like
a bit of everything
do you want to start
because I don't want you to
I don't want you to I don't want you to not
he probably has got to eat
another two meals
yeah
are you going to go home
and eat with the family
yeah
you don't have to eat that much
thank you very much
just whatever you want
just so you know
tonight is also
so the last ten days
of Ramadan are quite special
they're the most religious
part of the month
and so
you get even more blessings
you're opening my fast
during these last ten days Lenny so may you be blessed it's Eid lenny so maybe it's probably on friday so the reason why i say probably say
probably because lunar calendar so we rely upon sighting of the moon crikey who's going to decide
that so this is you ask all the best questions so because so that literally so we use science
because it's very cloudy here so in you know agrarians arabia 1400 years ago you'd spot the
sun coming out a bit and you'd say oh it's a new month so it's the the eid because we're in you
know great britain and it always is cloudy we are now use science um but also we see can't use
mayor in london to side i'm not sure if the clerics would approve of that you know the fatwa
for the mayor of london i i say i say it's eid tomorrow and i went short of fast and i went you know that's not how that's not how
it works quite lenny but you know so i'm a big fan of programs about politics and there was a
brilliant one where kelsey grammar was the mayor oh hang on boss and i had no idea it was your
daughter he's quite horrible mayor and he's quite based on tom daly not like the mayor of Boss and I had no idea it was your daughter yeah he's quite a horrible mayor
he's quite
based on Tom Daley
wasn't he
not like the mayor of London
he was a bit
he was a bit dodgy
he was corrupt
a bit dodgy
a bit corrupt
and it was great
it was only
it was two seasons
yeah
two seasons
and Hannah was like
the drug addled
suffering daughter
I wasn't saying anything
but she was the sort of
the daughter went astray
yeah
but I didn't realise it was your daughter, your sister
it's a small world
very weird
so your claim to fame is you're Lenny's daughter
and your sister's sister as well
yeah and then my mates see you on the bus
when they're going to teach at Graveney
you're on the tooting bus
I'm not sure
I've got an exclusive for you for the podcast
I'm not sure if you know what my dad did for a living i do know okay he was a bus
driver that's right i don't talk about it much i'm quite shy about this and stuff i'm only joking
which route did he do 44 um 44 bus starts at it starts in wandsworth goes all the way to victoria
and it was a joke during the campaign because i spoke about it a lot what did your mom do
my mom used to make clothes at home so it's called piecework so uh she was a joke during the campaign because I spoke about it a lot what did your mum do? my mum used to make
clothes at home
so it's a thing called
piecework
so she was a seamstress
and somebody would come
around the middle man
would come around
with lots of dresses
yeah
and so I'd see these dresses
she'd get paid 50p
to make these dresses
and you'd walk past
Chelsea Girl
remember Chelsea Girl?
Top Shop?
yes
and you'd see them
being sold for like 30 quid
and you'd sort of think
hold on to it
this ain't not quite right
mum's getting a 50p address and they've been sold for 30 quid
somebody's making some money here
and so she at the same time is raising
8 children I've got 6 brothers and 1 sister
she'd raised all of us
and she was making money on the side
there was a sewing machine in the corner of
the living room and she'd be
sewing dresses and we'd help out
you know you put things you'd help out with
the piece work and stuff and she'd be doing that all day long'd help out because, you know, you put things, you help out with the piecework and stuff.
And no, she should be doing that all day long.
I really want Sadiq to eat some food because I feel like we're just nattering.
Do you mind if we put the kettle on?
Yeah, we'll put the kettle on.
Please just eat and relax.
I've never made this before, but I thought I'd have a go.
It's very good.
Is it?
Yeah.
Is it just plain spinach?
It's spinach with feta.
I thought so, yeah.
And some onions.
I wanted to ask ask do you cook i don't
cook as much as i used to but i can cook a good curry what's your curry so curry bases are all
the same basically which is a great thing so curry bases are tell me are you can use either
tinned tomato or fresh tomatoes yeah and onions yeah that's your starting point tomatoes and onions. Yeah. That's your starting point. Tomato and onions.
And all curry dishes
basically start the same way.
There's some difference.
But what about your herbs?
But see,
first I've got to get that
going for a while.
I never start with
the tomato and onions.
Exactly.
Because I start with the herbs
because I thought you were
supposed to make
the coriander seeds pot.
And then,
it depends what you're making.
Are you making lentils?
What are you making?
I kind of just do the same thing.
So some people fry the onions first
and then add them to the tomato sauce. That's your base. And then you add making. Are you making lentils? What are you making? I kind of just do the same thing. So some people fry the onions first and then add them to the tomato sauce.
That's your base.
And then you add the spices as you want.
You know, the garam masala, the haldi,
the chillies, all that stuff.
And that is your base.
And then you add, it could be chicken,
it could be whatever else you want to add.
But your base basically is the same.
That's when you go to Indian restaurant,
you should ask the waiters what they recommend
because there's 20 types of curry
and they use the same basis.
Which is your favourite restaurant?
Yeah, on Tooting High Road,
which ones, which is D&D?
It's essentially a true story,
which is when I was running to be mayor,
I sort of said my favourite restaurant was Blah
and I happen to know most of the owners and the staff
and when I next saw any one of the owners
of the other restaurants or staff,
they would be in tears. Okay, so tell us then. They'd say, so any one of the owners of the other restaurants or staff, they would be in tears
because they'd say,
so basically,
the best sort of restaurants
are the Lorcais,
the Spice Villages,
the Masala Daras,
Dawat.
And the great thing about them
is they are
always a good sign.
Any ethnic food,
if there are people
of that ethnicity
eating there,
it's a good sign.
And so all these restaurants
have Asians eating there,
Pakistanis originating there, as well as the sort of, you know, the non-Asians eating there, which is a good sign and so all these restaurants have Asians eating there Pakistan originating there
as well as the sort of
you know
the non-Asians eating there
which is a good sign
the food is great
and good value for money
and what's your favourite
is
is
Asian food your favourite food
it is
so my
so
quite simple
so my most
my favourite Asian dish
is
what's called
lentils and rice
it's basically
poor man's food
but I love it
I love other curries as well
and my favourite
English dish
is fish and chips
so I really am
where do you go
for your fish and chips
because you're not
going to affect
you can go
so I like double fried chips
or triple fried chips
so anywhere that does those
is good
rice fried
oh you like that
they taste good
they're going to be crusty
and a bit dark
do you know what I mean
okay
so just down the road
from you is a
which is very good yeah they're quite good aren't they they're so, do you know what I mean? Okay. So just down the road from you is the Kirbyshire Amort, which is very good.
Yeah, they're quite good, aren't they?
They're so good.
Do you bring Pat Lunch to work?
No, they tease me silly if I did that.
Why?
Did you have Pat Lunch at school?
Mm-hmm.
You did?
Were you teased?
I didn't allow anyone to tease me.
Did Florence tease you?
Did she say, you know...
Oh, please.
She was like two years below.
She couldn't tease me.
No, but I was really into cottage cheese and Marmite,
which is a really bizarre...
Like on brown bread.
So they didn't tease me.
They probably just didn't sit with me.
So nobody would bully you for your packed lunch?
No.
Why?
Because...
Weird.
Right.
Well, so you never bring packed lunch?
No.
Leftovers are the best.
What I'll do is...
I'm trying to be good. You know you get strong with milk.. What I'll do is, I'm trying to be good.
You like it strong,
wouldn't you?
Please,
thank you,
yes.
You're trying to be good too.
Tiny bit of milk,
not a lot.
Do you want salad?
So,
salads,
fruit salads,
sandwich on days.
Yeah,
because the problem is,
I got into bad habits
when I was an MP,
which is eating late
and eating fried food
because I don't drink.
So,
when you're on a high,
you know,
a lot of colleagues,
unfortunately, would drink
to get them on a down
thank you very much
that's perfect
thank you very much
and so I'd eat fried food
on the way home
get a takeaway
and eat late at night
and I put on quite a bit of weight
and also
you know
I try and avoid
lunch meetings
because you end up eating
and so
yeah
will you have a holiday
this summer
not booked it yet
but we are planning to
take some holiday now that my daughters are older 16 and 18 i worked out age 12 onwards they stopped
enjoying going to holiday with mum and dad until 12 they were they do what you say they'd always
listen to mum and dad i have to say i've met them a few times and they are so gorgeous no but right
sharp beautiful girls um you must be really proud.
Yeah, they are our greatest humans, our daughters.
And they're lovely.
And so for 16 years, my daughters were giving me a hard time about getting a puppy.
16 years of, you know, we want a puppy, we want a puppy, we want a puppy.
One Monday I said, you know what?
Okay then.
And by the Saturday, they'd found a puppy.
They'd been Skype interviewed by the puppy owner.
And they'd arranged my diary for me to go and collect this puppy uh Luna and she's been amazing I tell you why because
because she's you know with Chilean children there's very few things you don't eat together
as much because you know they've got their own life um you don't do social events together we
don't go to the same gigs as much as we used to and so luna is the sort of glue in our family we all love luna
you know saw the other girls has life changed a lot since being there for your family yeah it's
difficult it's great it's great yeah um but everyone knows you everyone wants to ask you a
question and it must be hard for your teenage daughters i imagine it's all consuming i mean
my my daughters realized early doors i mean when i became became an MP, I was an MP in the area where they were born and raised in,
my oldest was five and a bit, and my youngest was three and a bit.
And so they tweaked quite early on.
When we're out and about, they can ask me for anything because I can't say no.
Because, you know, there are voters watching.
So we'd be, yeah, they're so sharp.
They order stuff at restaurants that they use.
They, you know, they'd ask for sweets in public
because, you know, or ice cream, you know,
because they'd worked out, they twigged.
They twigged early doors.
No, that's clever.
My daughter's going to be exactly the same, I know.
Yeah, they twigged.
They're very sharp, these kids.
It's a bit more difficult.
But at the same time, they grew up knowing that dad may be some he may be in a restaurant and somebody will have a conversation
with him and they they were very good always been great at just realizing that's part of my job and
being very very good don't like tagging away and stuff but it's tough it's tough now because
being the mayor is all consuming yeah it's a seven day a week uh job there is no downtime
so it's difficult for them
and i try and protect their privacy you know will you run again will you run again um i will be
running again to be the mayor yes it's the first time i've said that publicly oh there we go
you should
so when you decided to be an MP,
was the goal to be...
Was the goal being the mayor?
Or kind of...
It wasn't even thought about then?
No, not at all.
It wasn't.
I mean, I've been at the height of arrogance
to assume I could be the mayor when I...
My mission was to be the best MP I could
for my area, Tooting,
to represent Tooting in Parliament,
to be an advocate for Tooting,
a champion for Tooting.
That was a dream fulfilled.
Being a lawyer.
I grew up watching L.A. Law.
Remember L.A. Law?
Yeah.
Mum loves it.
I did science and elements.
I did biology, chemistry and maths.
I was destined to be the world's greatest dentist.
And then a combination of L.A. Law and my maths teacher telling me I was so good at arguing I should consider being a lawyer.
Where did you go to university?
North London.
Very late, you know, lastminute.com,
I decided to apply for law.
And I love being a lawyer.
I did human rights law.
I love doing that, you know.
And so I wanted to be like, you know, Fuentes and Cusack,
you know, doing great cases,
driving nice cars, wearing nice clothes.
What are you watching on the TV now?
So, I think I wish I were on the show.
Do you have heard of Madam Sec?
No.
Madam Sec is a...
Madam Secretary.
It's about a female foreign secretary in America.
That's very good.
You like these kind of Homeland...
You're watching Homeland?
It's just finished now.
I don't want to spoil it.
Spoiler alert.
Have you finished it?
I've watched it. I gave up. Oh, no. I thought it was Spoiler alert. Have you finished it? I've watched it.
I gave up.
Oh, no.
I thought it was the best series.
This one was good.
This one was good.
It's the best series.
And also, it's very realistic about what's going on and stuff.
It's a bit close to home, isn't it?
Yeah.
I mean, it was so...
And if you've got a big dysfunctional family like I have,
Modern Family.
Do you watch Modern Family?
I love Modern Family. It's so good. It's just funny, isn't it? It's the best, isn't it? you've got a big dysfunctional family like i have modern family just modern family i love modern
family it's so good it's just funny it's the best isn't it i like hospital dramas such as what
no she doesn't like whole city it's the one that i don't watch really but i know you just watch er
but that was er i watched grey's anatomy i watched grey's still mad i discovered grey's still going i find it astonishing there's a new one the resident casualty casualty i watch
all the she's the only person that's really good isn't it wonderful isn't it good and the ambulance
you realize that they've got the jobs they do it's just nothing but i mean all of them i mean
all our emergency services,
whether it's police, fire service,
but the A&E, those, I mean, all of them.
Amazing.
Well, yeah, because there's been a lot in,
you know, I had an acid attack on my road
about a month ago.
And I saw this awful video.
I don't know if you've seen it.
It was on Facebook.
Somebody was, and it was in Streatham.
Have you seen these school kids and somebody somebody was and it was in streatham have you
seen these school kids that and somebody gets stabbed and they're in unit school uniforms and
i'm like my husband used to live on the road like next door and it just feels like it's getting so
closer and closer the bad news is i mean you know violent crime has gone up the last three years i
mean literally there was a stabbing a road not far from here on friday uh young a young a young boy in school uniform
yeah i think that's the video that maybe yeah and look there are a variety of complex reasons
why violent crime is going up i'm a firm believer in investing in young people i'm not excusing
criminality by the way you know the people who you know use a knife are responsible but we've
got to invest in young people in prevention there was a there's a great phrase tony blair had called tough and crime the second line of that was yeah tough on the causes
of crime that means investing in schooling and youth centers in our school clubs i know that
very troubled youngsters every time every sometimes the only thing that they've got is the youth work
and and they're closing all the facilities down youth workers are like surrogate parents for these
kids uh they give them constructive things to do they make best mates there and even if the kids don't
go to a youth club the youth worker knows all the kids in the community absolutely right and they're
they've been slashed over the last seven eight years combination well because actually most
councils who fund youth centers get their money from central government they've lost lots of money
they've got to choose tough choices
but at the same time
as we've had the cuts
in youth services
and schools
and preventative services
and mental health
we've had cuts in the police
so there are a few
police officers now
any time
in the last 15 years
because of
central government cuts
and so you're seeing
Jessie I'm afraid
the consequences of cuts
I just want to go back
to Sounds Like London
just because growing up did you go out clubbing one of the. I just want to go back to Sounds Like London. Just because growing up, did you go out clubbing?
One of the best concerts I went to, Clapham Common,
Artists Against Apartheid.
Remember that?
Who was playing?
There was Sting, Gary Kemp from Spandau played.
It was a free concert at Clapham Common.
When was it?
Mandela was still in prison.
It was the mid-80s.
When everyone who was big played. I know it in prison. It was the mid-80s.
When everyone who was big played.
I know it was the same day as the Wham final concert.
The reason why I know this is because... Couldn't get tickets for Wham.
No, no, no.
There were two types of people in the world.
Those that went to the Wham final
and those who went to Artists Against Apartheid
at Clapham Common.
And I was the latter.
I love Wham, though, by the way.
Me too.
But yeah.
But Boy George made a nice...
I even now remember the the joke boy george
made about you know george michael in the final and stuff but there was there was a rivalry i
know i used to go on apartheid marches you would have been there so so my first concert was my
first concert was where you performed the other night it was my first concert was bon jovi no it
wasn't a bunch of it was um as what asad shine shine like a star
yeah
oh
that was your first
they got to number one
as well Aswad
didn't they
Aswad
they got to number one
and so
silly of people
singing reggae
whoa
it wasn't UB40
Aswad
that's wicked
so you
would you say
you're more into
kind of reggae
than rock
I'm sort of
I'm into R&B
mainstream
everyone loved michael
jackson i mean remember shalimar so i remember when jeffrey down at jeffrey down's performed
the sort of breakdance and moonwalk on top of the pops everyone the next day before your time jesse
everyone the next day in the playground was doing the moonwalk and you know shalimar could you like
to remember i could actually i was okay that's good no i could do the moonwalk you're gonna have
to do it at pride now yeah I can't breakdance anymore.
I can't hip hop.
And my daughters have forbidden me.
You used to do breakdancing.
My daughters have forbidden me to do...
I'm not allowed to dance or sing in public outside the house.
Have you got a voice?
Here she goes.
No, I can't sing.
We could duet on the next one.
I think I'm great, but my daughters say I'm rubbish.
What's your karaoke song?
I've done karaoke for years.
It depends what's... I mean, it depends who the crowd is and stuff. I mean, karaoke for years. It depends what's,
I mean,
it depends what's,
who the crowd is and stuff.
I mean,
there are some easy songs you can do,
can't you?
Beatles are always easy.
Beatles are,
a Beatles song is always easy.
you can always get everyone going.
Yeah,
like everyone can do it.
What's yours actually,
mum?
What would be your,
what would be your karaoke song?
I Will Survive.
Oh,
wow.
Everyone does that.
Come on.
All right then.
Well,
I'm not going to hit the notes for Whitney,
am I?
No but you used to
Make me try and do it
In Club Med
Didn't you?
It's painful
I don't think
So if you think
In our combined
Karaoke experience
How many times
Have you seen somebody
Actually perform that song
And not murder it?
No you always murder it
Everyone always murders it
Yeah
Always
Yeah yeah
That's why I always just did
I want to dance to somebody
You don't do
I will always love you
No
Remember in Club Med
You were like Go on sing You want to be a somebody you don't do I will always love you remember in club med you were like go on sing
you want to be a singer sing
I was like at 12
and I was like I don't want to do this
you were so mean pushy Jewish mother
I think that's Jessie's way of saying thank you mum
for pushing me to become successful
I think you loved singing
Jessie you drove us mad with singing
do you sometimes okay so
you are the mayor of
London this is a pretty aspirational job I mean it's an important job it's essential do you ever
kind of if in another life what would do you think you'd go back into politics or what would be like
what would be this kind of other job you would do well when I was little I wanted to be um a
cricketer and I had trials
for Surrey
they made a big mistake
not taking me on
there's a miscarriage
of justice there
I think
most people though
most people dream
about being a singer
actually don't they?
your mates at school
what did they dream
about doing?
Yeah they wanted
to be an oasis
really I think
so yeah
when you say with oasis
you mean
they wanted to be
Liam in Noel
not blur no we were more oasis, do you mean? They wanted to be Liam in Noel.
Oh, not Blur?
No, we were more Oasis, yeah.
Were you? Why, were you a Blur?
No, they're both okay.
They're both a bit
of themselves.
But I like David Albarn's politics.
I think he's a good guy.
He is a good guy.
So, one of the things
that did affect me growing up
is the sort of music I enjoyed
and I really got into
was people with good politics.
So, Sting and the Police,
David and Blur,
they've got good politics.
And I just think
it must be, I've never experienced experienced it but it must be a massive privilege
having fans the idea that somebody has paid to go and see you in concert or to download your tracks
or to buy you know no money cds and you know they're young and impressionable and i think
you've got a real important position here i mean i'm I'm aware of the jam and Paul Weller. I mean, you've got a responsibility here.
You've got an audience here.
But I just think, you know, using that pedestal that you're on,
whether you like it or not, you are.
So, you know, the idea of you being a UNICEF ambassador,
yeah, do you know what I mean?
So it's really important.
So not being funny, there are some people,
and forgive me if everyone already has heard of UNICEF,
who will now listen to this, know that Jesse Ware is an ambassador,
and say, what does UNICEF does?
Or they may have donated even just a 10-quid text yesterday,
money towards UNICEF, which otherwise they wouldn't have done.
So, you know, I think it's quite important.
Maybe you should get a UNICEF cricket match.
I know.
Well, I'm thinking we do cricket aid, and you basically,
you could be the manager, you could play a manager.
I'm a bit of a control freak.
Are you a bowler or a batsman?
The oval.
I see.
I'm clever.
I'm an all-rounder.
I do both
always hedge your bets
you see
because if you're out
early batting
it doesn't matter
you can bowl
even if you're the captain
Jesse I think it's a good idea
so do you watch football
yeah I play every Sunday
so I still play with mates
I've played with the same mates
for the last 25
30 years
you were in a Sunday league
football team
it's not a league
it's just a kick about
no it's a proper game
what do you mean
oh sorry 90 minutes yeah it's not a league. Okay, it's just a kickabout. No, it's a proper game. What do you mean? Oh, sorry.
90 minutes?
Yeah.
It's not proper football, is it?
Just a kickabout.
I'm just loving the fact that you'd be in one of my husband's leagues
and they'd turn up and you'd be playing.
We have a couple of rules.
We don't have sliding tackles because there's too many fights.
The idea of grown men having a fight is not cool.
And it happens a lot in Sunday League.
It happens a lot.
Do you support a football team
like all good South Londoners
I support Liverpool
and so
Klopp is such a joy
isn't he
how charismatic is he
I challenge you to watch
he smiles all the time
I challenge you to watch
any of his interviews
and not just smile
and not just be
feel positive
and what a wonderful
he's positive
and he's enthusiastic
and he runs up and down
he's a good example, by the way.
He's small P political.
He did a great interview with The Guardian talking about...
I read it.
...European Union and, you know, great interview.
He's an intelligent man.
And you'd want the manager of a business, the manager of a team,
to be an intelligent person.
And so, you know, he's great.
Diets, the sort of players that play, the ethos of the team and it's a funny story about a wonderful story about
liverpool i met an 11 year old about four months ago and his mom was telling me that her son is
very quiet he was very quiet and she said one day he was in the car with three of his mates who she
was driving around he's an asian kid muslim. And they're all singing a Mo Salah song.
His friends are not Asian.
And so Mo Salah being successful
has made young Muslims feel so good about themselves
because you've got Liverpool fans who aren't Muslim.
They've made songs about Mo Salah,
about his faith in a positive way.
And there's a great line in one of their chants,
you know, if it's good enough for you,
it's good enough for me.
If you go to the mosque, I'll go to one too.
And so that's sort of,
and so when I grew up,
you'd have great players
like John Barnes
have bananas thrown at them.
You know,
I remember going to a Chelsea,
I remember my brothers rather,
going to a Chelsea game,
being racially abused
and chased away by the NF.
I remember going to a game,
Wimbledon,
when they were in the old
first division,
Plough Lane playing Spurs
and me being racially abused.
And so to have
a situation where 20-30 years on you know we are one of the world leaders in kicking races about
football we've got great football of different faiths Mo Salah and Sane both Muslim in Liverpool
Arsenal Muslim players Man City different races different ethnicities it's wonderful because
that's how you change attitudes you know I can 100 speeches, but actually a song or a sports star,
you know, can really affect things.
You know, having your values, you know,
articulated in a way that otherwise wouldn't cut through.
That's why I think it's important,
whether you're a UNICEF ambassador,
whether you're a footballer.
What Klopp does is amazing.
He just makes you feel great about yourself.
Yeah, that big smile.
Yeah.
Wouldn't you want to work hard for him if you were a player?
Absolutely.
The reason why I've always loved sports, both playing and also watching is it teaches you life
skills how to be magnanimous in victory how to be dignified in defeat how to when you're in a team
sport put your arm around somebody and raise them as klopp does or sometimes you've got to shout at
somebody you know you've got to perform that 12 as a 12 year old you've got to perform that song
karaoke and that's that's that's what leadership is about
that's what being a good leader is about
and Klopp does it I think so well
my mum's a dictator
speaking of dictators
one's coming quite soon to our country
our city
nice segue
I was quite pleased with that actually
has he been in touch?
do you want to get a cup of tea?
let me tell you a remarkable thing
about President Trump
I'm the Mayor of London
I'm a humble Mayor
and I'm really busy
and the only time
I've got time
to look at my
Twitter feed
let alone tweet
it's just
you know
honestly
I mean just
I mean you will know this
I say this not in a pompous way
but we had to block
this date out
weeks in advance
because
you know
the idea that the
President of the USA
the leader of the free
world looks at Twitter and then tweets about me I just don't understand how you've got the time to
do that it's just it's just it's quite it's a bit weird and so I didn't want to get involved in this
ding dong I'm not I'm not you know a active participant but actually when you've got a lot
you just you spend a lot of time
in america we love america yeah absolutely what a great country we're influenced by their music
by their culture by their politicians i mean i love jfk i like robert kennedy martin luther king
you know bernie sanders the clintons the obamas we love america west wing you know what i mean
um madam uh yeah yeah Jed Barlet and Madam Secretary
scandal
you like scandal
it's got a bit silly
now hasn't it
yeah
it's got a bit silly
and you know
America is a beacon
for us in the world
values
pluralism
and when President Trump
says things that
I find so objectionable
I think you've got to
say something about it
and the great thing about
the great thing about
having best mates
that's what you were saying
the UK are
we're best mates the special relationship is obviously you stand
shoulder to shoulder at times of adversity you know we're with each other if there's troubles
but you've got to call them out when they're wrong and i think if you just reflect on what
president trump has done he's retweeted messages from far-right groups you know britain first
who have by the way been banned by facebook he's retweeting their sort of messages of hate, amplifying messages of hate,
giving them credibility they otherwise haven't got.
You know, I remember going to the Women's March in relation to some of the concerns
in relation to how he treats women and stuff.
But even, I just think, why wouldn't you speak out about that?
Why do you have to be a sycophant and, you know, always, you know.
And so he is coming, it looks like, to London.
I'm pleased it's not a state visit with the whole
all that involves
we'll have to wait
and see how it pans out
we should have a relationship
with him of course
we should
do you know where he's coming to
or
I could but I couldn't
possibly tell you
no I understand
you'd have to kill me
afterwards but
and your listeners
but I'll be out there
well there's lots
I mean
making points
we'll be popping down to Downing Street
on the 13th of July?
One of the great things,
see, one of the great things about our values
is that we can.
That's the great thing about democracy.
I think it's right and proper
for me to be criticised by the media.
We have a free press.
I think it's right and proper
for us to be active citizens
and to march and to lobby and to protest.
It should be peacefully.
We cannot have anybody
who thinks it's okay to cause criminal damage or to cause harm to protest. It should be peacefully. We cannot have anybody who thinks it's okay
to cause criminal damage or to cause harm.
Done properly, it's really important.
And that's how you bring about change.
And, you know, you can change.
There's a great Martin Luther King quote,
which is, you know,
I can legislate to change the way you act,
but not the way you think.
But over a period of time,
by changing the way you act,
it changes the way you think.
And so, for example,
bringing in laws,
when my parents first came to this country,
they were signed saying,
no blacks, no Irish, no dogs, right?
At B&Bs, at guest houses,
and all that sort of stuff.
And it was a Labour government that said,
you can't do that, it's against the law.
First, B&B owners or guest houses
hated doing it,
but they had to take it down
because it was against the law.
But over a period of time, by in with us they realized we're not
the boogeyman we're okay they started to change the way they think about us and I
think simply protest is a good way of changing public opinion and so when
people see what to these first of all anti-american or anti you know America
we love both those things Americans in America so it's not anti-american but
when people see that actually London a city that
loves Americans
and America
where Americans
are made at their home
are peacefully protesting
against some of the things
the president is doing
I hope people
will notice that
it's got to be done properly
and peacefully and stuff
but you know
that's who we are
we you know
we demonstrate
with the things
we're unhappy about
last question
before you leave
and we ask everybody
your last supper what would it consist
of if i'm honest in this it winds up my family because i'm so lacking in ambition and imagination
but i do love fish and chips uh it's got to be bad cod it's got to be proper chips uh with garden
peas not mushy peas i'm not northern i'm a garden peas man okay and no curry sauce no no no they do it for the garden
two big onions
two big onions
I'm going to have
ketchup and brown sauce
and vinegar
you have all the
condiments
all the condiments
I'm a condiments man
I mean I love chilli sauce
all the condiments
and stuff
that is good
and I love my dessert
I'm going to have
dessert as well
well you're going to
have to take some
of this dessert home
no definitely
definitely
what would it be
the dessert would be
could be a number of things
I'm really
I had the other night
I had a fritter rolls
which were lovely
I love fritter rolls
very retro
we need to bring them back mum
yeah
that's when we were growing up
weren't they
that was a big thing
yeah it was like
Italian night
dinner out
posh if you were lucky
yeah yeah
love cheesecake
right okay
yeah
I baked my first
my first ever
Victoria sponge about three months ago my daughter taught me how to make a Victoria sponge how. I baked my first ever Victoria sponge
about three months ago.
My daughter taught me how to make a Victoria sponge.
How did it turn out?
A good Victoria sponge.
It was perfect.
It was perfect.
Are you going to end to bake off?
No, not quite.
I've only baked one thing in my life,
so I don't want to be Ed Balls of baking.
Ed Balls of baking.
Thank you so much for doing this.
It's been a pleasure.
Thank you for feeding me
and may you be rewarded in this world
and the hereafter as the prayer goes. It's been a pleasure. Thank you for feeding me and may you be rewarded in this world and the hereafter as the prayer goes.
It's been such a pleasure to have you.
Mum?
Yes?
You just cooked for the Mayor of London.
And he did eat.
He did eat.
He chatted so it was hard for him to eat.
And I was very pleased that I'd made the extra effort about the dates,
because I'm blessed by my husband.
I think he appreciates that.
I don't know if he appreciated the cat who'd been vomiting before,
trying to lick them.
I had another packet.
To clarify, we did change the dates.
Yeah.
Well, I mean, I've met him a few times, and you've kind of met,
but he's just warm.
He's genuine.
He is genuine.
He's lovely.
He's normal.
He's not pompous in any way. And I think he's got a genuine commitment to London.
He loves London.
Well, he should.
And I think he does.
And I think he's doing some brilliant things.
But I mean, Aswad. What's doing some brilliant things but I mean Aswad
what's the song again
come on and shine
shine like a star
shine and so bright
like the star that you are
oh shine
I'm just imagining
young Sadiq Khan
in the audience
of Hammersmith Apollo
shocking out to that.
And he's seen Bon Jovi as well.
Yeah.
Slipped that in too, didn't he?
And he doesn't, he likes Blur a little,
well, he likes Damon a little bit more than Oasis.
Don't blame him.
We learned a lot of things tonight, Mum.
Yeah.
I got the impression he'd go home and eat more.
Well, Mum, he's got a few hours to be able to eat.
I know.
He did look a bit tired.
Mum, I can't even imagine what his schedule is like.
He's not fasted all day.
Yeah.
We take the day off when we fast.
I know.
Yeah, because we're supposed to be in synagogue all day, darling.
That's the whole point of it.
Okay.
That they're more pragmatic.
Thanks so much, Mr. Mayor, Sadiq Khan,
for coming on table manners we we know you have
an incredibly important and busy job trying to i'm so pleased you fitted us in and ibn barak for him
ibn barak and for everybody else yes now table manners listeners who's been listening for a
while you know we're obsessed about food
and we'd love to hear what you're eating we've started up an instagram which is at table manners
podcast and we'd love you to tag us or at us with your meals whether that's your desired last meal
or it's the worst meal you've ever had this week or a recipe that you'd like us to try we're game
we just like to
hear from you and see what you're cooking and get to know you a little bit better so that's something
that's starting we've also decided to launch second helpings which is a little bit extra
an extra dollop of uh lennyware and jesseware um and it will be on on Fridays and it will just be kind of a shorter podcast
of basically mum and I
berating each other.
If you liked Table Manners
but really you're all here for Lenny,
go to Second Helpings.
I don't think they're just here
for me, darling.
Sadiq just told me
that he thinks you're the stuff.
You're a bit jealous.
No.
Okay.
Spread your wings and fly, mother.
Okay, darling.
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is by Peter Duffy and Peter Fraser.
Leave us a rate and a review,
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Mum's pointing at herself.