Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S3 Ep 4: Sadiq Khan

Episode Date: June 20, 2018

Hear 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.

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Own each step with Peloton. From their pop runs to walk and talks, you define what it means to be a runner. Whatever your level, embrace it. Journey starts when you say so. If you've got five minutes or 50, Peloton Tread has workouts you can work in. Or bring your classes with you for outdoor runs, walks, and hikes, led by expert instructors on the Peloton app. Call yourself a runner.
Starting point is 00:00:24 Peloton all-access membership separate. Learn more at onepeloton.ca slash running. 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?
Starting point is 00:00:41 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?
Starting point is 00:00:56 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
Starting point is 00:01:27 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.
Starting point is 00:01:55 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
Starting point is 00:02:30 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.
Starting point is 00:03:11 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.
Starting point is 00:03:47 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.
Starting point is 00:03:59 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
Starting point is 00:04:47 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.
Starting point is 00:05:30 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
Starting point is 00:06:03 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
Starting point is 00:06:12 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
Starting point is 00:06:19 yes so they probably thought you were canvassing I knocked on the door two doors down and she answered the door and I goes
Starting point is 00:06:27 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
Starting point is 00:06:34 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
Starting point is 00:06:41 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.
Starting point is 00:06:48 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.
Starting point is 00:06:57 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
Starting point is 00:07:05 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
Starting point is 00:07:12 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
Starting point is 00:07:23 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
Starting point is 00:07:53 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
Starting point is 00:08:25 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.
Starting point is 00:09:05 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.
Starting point is 00:09:20 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
Starting point is 00:09:54 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?
Starting point is 00:10:16 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
Starting point is 00:10:29 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
Starting point is 00:10:37 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
Starting point is 00:10:59 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.
Starting point is 00:11:16 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
Starting point is 00:11:28 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.
Starting point is 00:11:54 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.
Starting point is 00:12:06 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,
Starting point is 00:12:17 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
Starting point is 00:12:37 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.
Starting point is 00:13:17 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
Starting point is 00:13:46 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
Starting point is 00:14:24 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
Starting point is 00:14:53 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,
Starting point is 00:15:16 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
Starting point is 00:15:48 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
Starting point is 00:16:29 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,
Starting point is 00:16:52 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
Starting point is 00:17:06 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
Starting point is 00:17:14 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
Starting point is 00:17:21 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.
Starting point is 00:17:48 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,
Starting point is 00:18:08 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
Starting point is 00:18:30 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.
Starting point is 00:18:53 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
Starting point is 00:19:13 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,
Starting point is 00:19:36 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
Starting point is 00:19:49 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
Starting point is 00:19:56 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
Starting point is 00:20:06 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
Starting point is 00:20:12 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
Starting point is 00:20:19 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,
Starting point is 00:20:30 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,
Starting point is 00:20:51 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.
Starting point is 00:21:04 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
Starting point is 00:21:33 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
Starting point is 00:21:48 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
Starting point is 00:21:55 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
Starting point is 00:22:03 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
Starting point is 00:22:11 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
Starting point is 00:22:19 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?
Starting point is 00:22:28 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,
Starting point is 00:22:43 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,
Starting point is 00:23:08 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?
Starting point is 00:23:19 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.
Starting point is 00:23:36 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
Starting point is 00:24:03 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
Starting point is 00:24:12 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
Starting point is 00:24:20 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
Starting point is 00:24:33 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
Starting point is 00:24:48 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
Starting point is 00:24:58 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
Starting point is 00:25:04 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
Starting point is 00:25:12 for you Lenny all these blessings you're receiving for feeding me you're a mensch mum yeah absolutely right
Starting point is 00:25:19 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
Starting point is 00:25:28 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
Starting point is 00:25:44 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...
Starting point is 00:26:11 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.
Starting point is 00:26:19 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
Starting point is 00:26:34 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
Starting point is 00:26:47 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
Starting point is 00:26:56 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
Starting point is 00:27:03 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
Starting point is 00:27:11 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
Starting point is 00:27:20 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
Starting point is 00:27:46 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
Starting point is 00:28:27 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
Starting point is 00:28:33 and it was great it was only it was two seasons yeah two seasons and Hannah was like the drug addled suffering daughter
Starting point is 00:28:41 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
Starting point is 00:28:52 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
Starting point is 00:29:12 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
Starting point is 00:29:29 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
Starting point is 00:29:38 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
Starting point is 00:29:43 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
Starting point is 00:29:58 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.
Starting point is 00:30:13 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.
Starting point is 00:30:23 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.
Starting point is 00:30:49 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
Starting point is 00:30:56 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.
Starting point is 00:31:03 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,
Starting point is 00:31:17 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,
Starting point is 00:31:30 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
Starting point is 00:31:45 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
Starting point is 00:31:54 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
Starting point is 00:32:02 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
Starting point is 00:32:10 and what's your favourite is is Asian food your favourite food it is so my so quite simple
Starting point is 00:32:16 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
Starting point is 00:32:23 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
Starting point is 00:32:31 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
Starting point is 00:32:39 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.
Starting point is 00:32:45 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?
Starting point is 00:32:56 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,
Starting point is 00:33:08 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...
Starting point is 00:33:17 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,
Starting point is 00:33:26 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?
Starting point is 00:33:31 So, salads, fruit salads, sandwich on days. Yeah, because the problem is, I got into bad habits when I was an MP,
Starting point is 00:33:38 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
Starting point is 00:33:46 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
Starting point is 00:33:54 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
Starting point is 00:34:01 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.
Starting point is 00:34:27 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.
Starting point is 00:34:45 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,
Starting point is 00:35:28 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,
Starting point is 00:35:53 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
Starting point is 00:36:09 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,
Starting point is 00:36:45 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...
Starting point is 00:36:56 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.
Starting point is 00:37:11 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?
Starting point is 00:37:27 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,
Starting point is 00:37:41 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.
Starting point is 00:37:55 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.
Starting point is 00:38:05 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?
Starting point is 00:38:17 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
Starting point is 00:38:40 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,
Starting point is 00:39:13 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
Starting point is 00:39:29 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
Starting point is 00:40:13 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
Starting point is 00:40:46 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
Starting point is 00:40:54 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
Starting point is 00:41:02 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.
Starting point is 00:41:21 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.
Starting point is 00:41:33 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.
Starting point is 00:41:42 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
Starting point is 00:42:07 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
Starting point is 00:42:13 singing reggae whoa it wasn't UB40 Aswad that's wicked so you would you say you're more into
Starting point is 00:42:20 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
Starting point is 00:42:34 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.
Starting point is 00:42:53 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,
Starting point is 00:43:05 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,
Starting point is 00:43:11 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?
Starting point is 00:43:18 I Will Survive. Oh, wow. Everyone does that. Come on. All right then. Well, I'm not going to hit the notes for Whitney,
Starting point is 00:43:24 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
Starting point is 00:43:30 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
Starting point is 00:43:37 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
Starting point is 00:43:43 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
Starting point is 00:43:57 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
Starting point is 00:44:25 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
Starting point is 00:44:34 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
Starting point is 00:44:41 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.
Starting point is 00:44:48 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
Starting point is 00:44:55 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
Starting point is 00:45:04 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,
Starting point is 00:45:34 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.
Starting point is 00:45:50 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.
Starting point is 00:46:03 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
Starting point is 00:46:08 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
Starting point is 00:46:17 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
Starting point is 00:46:24 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.
Starting point is 00:46:36 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
Starting point is 00:46:49 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
Starting point is 00:46:59 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.
Starting point is 00:47:08 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
Starting point is 00:47:28 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,
Starting point is 00:47:57 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
Starting point is 00:48:09 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.
Starting point is 00:48:17 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
Starting point is 00:48:30 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,
Starting point is 00:48:55 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
Starting point is 00:49:09 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
Starting point is 00:49:33 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
Starting point is 00:49:45 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
Starting point is 00:49:53 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
Starting point is 00:49:59 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
Starting point is 00:50:18 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
Starting point is 00:50:46 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
Starting point is 00:50:53 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
Starting point is 00:51:02 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,
Starting point is 00:51:27 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
Starting point is 00:51:48 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
Starting point is 00:51:54 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
Starting point is 00:52:02 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
Starting point is 00:52:15 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
Starting point is 00:52:25 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.
Starting point is 00:52:41 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?
Starting point is 00:52:52 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.
Starting point is 00:53:04 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
Starting point is 00:53:26 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
Starting point is 00:53:35 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
Starting point is 00:53:41 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
Starting point is 00:54:07 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
Starting point is 00:54:13 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
Starting point is 00:54:19 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
Starting point is 00:54:27 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
Starting point is 00:54:34 that was a big thing yeah it was like Italian night dinner out posh if you were lucky yeah yeah love cheesecake right okay
Starting point is 00:54:41 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.
Starting point is 00:54:49 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.
Starting point is 00:55:01 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.
Starting point is 00:55:19 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.
Starting point is 00:55:35 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.
Starting point is 00:55:50 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
Starting point is 00:56:07 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
Starting point is 00:56:22 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.
Starting point is 00:56:35 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.
Starting point is 00:56:49 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,
Starting point is 00:57:04 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
Starting point is 00:57:46 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.
Starting point is 00:58:16 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.
Starting point is 00:58:26 Okay, darling. The music you've been listening to is by Peter Duffy and Peter Fraser. Leave us a rate and a review, five stars please, and let us know who you think was Paxman tonight. Mum's pointing at herself.

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.