Susan Hall criticised for suggesting Jewish people scared of Sadiq Khan

The Conservative London mayoral candidate Susan Hall has been criticised for suggesting Jewish people are scared by Sadiq Khan.

She accused London's mayor of having a "divisive attitude", which she said "frightened" some Jewish Londoners.

The comments by Mrs Hall, made at a Conservative Friends of Israel event, have been branded as "dog-whistle politics" by the Jewish Labour Group.

Jewish Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge has urged her to retract her remarks.

Speaking on the second night of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Mrs Hall did not give the audience further details about which members of the Jewish community might be scared of Mr Khan, or why.

The mayor's office said he would not be responding to the remarks directly and pointed towards some of the reaction from organisations such as the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

The largest communal Jewish organisation in the UK, the board issued a statement praising Mr Khan as someone who treated them "with friendship and respect".

It continued: "We hope to co-host the key mayoral candidates at a 2024 Jewish hustings, where it will be clear that while London Jews may have varying political views, there is no fear present at all."

Mrs Hall told the Conservative Friends of Israel event that she intended to make London a "safer" place for "everybody".

She said Mr Khan - who is aiming to secure a record third term at next year's mayoral election - was "divisive", and that she knew "how frightened some of the community is" as a result.

"I will ask for as much help as I can get in London because we need to defeat him," she said of her opponent, adding: "Particularly for our Jewish community."

Reacting to Mrs Hall's remarks, the Jewish Labour Group commended the mayor for having a "record to be proud of in standing up for Jewish Londoners, and Londoners of all backgrounds".

Similarly, Jewish Labour MP Margaret Hodge said Mr Khan had "always called out antisemitism, wherever it has reared".

In an interview with BBC London from the conference, Mrs Hall also told the BBC that if she was elected, she would look into what she said was the "uncomfortable" fact that knife crime disproportionately affected black people.

Her comments follow the fatal stabbings of two teenagers in the past week.

Mrs Hall, who is currently a London Assembly member, said she believed some people in the capital were feeling unsafe following the killings of a 16-year-old boy on Sunday and of 15-year-old Elianne Andam on Wednesday.

When asked about previous comments she had made in sympathy of black mothers losing children to knife crime, she said black youngsters were four times more likely to be stabbed than white youngsters.

Ms Hall said: "We've got to deal with this and I don't care if it's a difficult issue. We've got to look into that and it may be an uncomfortable subject to look into, but we've got to do it.

"Those mothers send those kids out in the morning wondering if they're ever going to come back. We've got to deal with this and I don't care if it's a difficult issue.

"I will broach it. I want to be the mayor of London for all Londoners," said Mrs Hall, whom the BBC has contacted for a response to the criticism of her remarks about Mr Khan.

The vote to select London's next mayor will take place on 2 May.

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