Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Sadiq Khan: I started 'speaking posh' when I felt like an outsider

Khan grew up in a council estate in Tooting, south London

Sadiq Khan: I started 'speaking posh' when I felt like an outsider

LONDON mayor Sadiq Khan has revealed that he started 'speaking posh' to fit in when he felt like an outsider in his younger days.

Khan told the Big Fish podcast it was like speaking two languages as he would talk so differently at home.


The son of a Pakistani bus driver, Khan grew up in a council estate in Tooting, south London.

According to him, the place he grew up was ‘light years away’ from the world of law and politics.

Khan said he changed the way he spoke at law school to sound more posh.

“I was raised on a council estate. My dad was a bus driver. To go from that background to being a lawyer first, then a parliamentarian, was just light years away from my experience growing up," The Telegraph quoted Khan as saying.

“So when I first went to law school – I went to this really posh law school in Guilford, the College of Law – I started changing the way I speak to fit in. To sound posher.”

The 52 year-old worked as a human rights lawyer before going into politics. He has been the mayor since 2016.

Khan said altering one's way of speaking is quite simple.

"I’m not an actor, but you can change the way you speak. I then became a trainee solicitor, and I was still speaking in the posher way," Khan told the podcast.

He described his speech as almost bilingual, using a posh tone at work and reverting to his normal way of speaking while at home.

Khan said that a conversation with one of his clients made him realise that he was trying to be something he was not.

He added, “I realised then that being authentic whether you’re a lawyer or a politician is far more important. Because I speak differently, I stand out. Because I have different coloured skin, I stand out. Because I’m short, I stand out. Of course, there were times I felt like an outsider.”

More For You

Sunita-Williams-Reuters

Sunita Williams was part of the SpaceX Crew-9 mission and had been stranded in space for over nine months. (Photo: Reuters)

Reuters)

India looks amazing from space, says Sunita Williams

NASA astronaut Sunita Williams described India as "amazing" from space and expressed her intention to visit her "father's home country" to share her experiences on space exploration.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, she responded to a question about how India appeared from space and the possibility of collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Keep ReadingShow less
british-muslims-iStock

The study noted that this identification was not due to any doctrinal obligation but was influenced by the perception that many Muslims do not feel fully accepted as British. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Majority of British Muslims identify by faith first, study finds

A STUDY by the Institute for the Impact of Faith in Life (IIFL) has found that most British Muslims identify primarily with their religion rather than their nationality.

The research, based on a survey of 815 British Muslim adults by Whitestone Insight, revealed that 71 per cent of respondents identified as Muslim first, while 27 per cent identified as British, English, or Scottish first.

Keep ReadingShow less
Car Tax Changes: EV Owners Now Required to Pay for the First Time

Owners of electric vehicles registered on or after 1 April 2025 will pay £10 for the first year, followed by the standard VED rate of £195 from the second year. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Car tax changes take effect: EV owners to pay for first time

FROM today, 1 April 2025, electric cars, vans, and motorcycles in the UK will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) for the first time.

The change, introduced in the 2022 Autumn Statement by former Conservative Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, aims to make motoring taxation fairer.

Keep ReadingShow less
scotland-minimum-wages-iStock

Full-time workers on the National Living Wage will receive an annual pay increase of £1,400 in real terms. (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

Wage increase takes effect for thousands of workers in Scotland

HUNDREDS of thousands of workers in Scotland will see a pay increase as new National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates take effect from Tuesday.

The changes will benefit approximately 220,000 people, according to STV News.

Keep ReadingShow less
uk-energy-bill-iStock

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased (Representational image: iStock)

iStock

April bill increases put financial strain on single parents

A RANGE of essential household bills are increasing from April, with Citizens Advice warning that single parents will be among the hardest hit.

Water bills, energy prices, and council tax are rising, while the minimum wage has also increased, BBC reported.

Keep ReadingShow less