Sadiq Khan wrongly identified in 15 minute cities interview

Posts circulating online claim to show the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan talking about “15 minute cities” and “C40 cities”. 

But the man in the clip isn’t Mr Khan. It actually shows part of an interview with finance and property broker Shyam Batra, who announced in January 2024 that he would be running to become London’s mayor, but wasn’t a candidate on the final ballot paper in May 2024.

The full interview with Mr Batra was conducted by International Business Times UK and was shared on their YouTube channel in February. Mr Batra posted a clip from the interview to his Instagram account on 5 April. 

A number of social media posts caption the same clip with Mr Khan’s name, as if he’s the person speaking. Multiple posts have almost identical captions saying: “Mayor of London Sadiq Khan ‘What a 15 Minute City actually is, it is something that the WEF has created called C40, and it’s called C40 Cities’”. 

The posts go on to suggest Mr Khan spoke about petrol and diesel cars being banned, a “calorie-controlled system” restricting a person’s diet and bank accounts being frozen for people breaking these regulations. 

We could find no evidence that Mr Khan said the remarks attributed to him in the posts on social media. Mr Khan won 43.8% of the vote in May’s election and his third consecutive term in office. 

15 minute cities—which refer to a concept where residents have all services and amenities within a 15 minute walk or bike ride—has been the subject of much misinformation. Full Fact has written about false claims suggesting they will restrict when residents can go to the shops, introduce digital IDs and divide areas into districts. 

The posts also mention C40 Cities, which are a “global network of nearly 100 mayors” that are “united in action to confront the climate crisis”, but—as we’ve said before—it provides recommendations and targets, rather than plans cities have to introduce.

We’ve previously written about false claims about C40 Cities and the World Economic Forum (WEF), including that Mr Khan (who is the co-chair of C40 Cities) signed a WEF treaty to ban meat, flights and cars by 2030.