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news
Charlie MullinsPimlico Plumbers founder Charlie Mullins suspended from Twitter after posting that “someone should kill” Sadiq Khan over ULEZ
Charlie Mullins, the Pimlico Plumbers founder who claimed in 2020 that “cycle fascists” were making van journeys longer, has been suspended from X, formerly known as Twitter, after posting a series of tweets attacking and appearing to threaten London mayor Sadiq Khan over this week’s expansion of the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone, writing that “it’s time to dump the Muslim mayor” and that “someone should kill him”.
Mullins’ racially charged tweets were posted within ten minutes of each other on Sunday night, two days before the ULEZ – inside which motorists are charged £12.50 a day for driving older, non-compliant, high-polluting vehicles – was extended to outer London, following months of political debate, protests, furious online discourse, and legal challenges over a policy described by Labour mayor Khan as “not easy but necessary to reduce the capital's toxic air pollution”.
Replying to tsuk78639968’s tweet calling for Mullins to stand at the next mayoral election, to “make London what it used to be”, the 70-year-old multimillionaire businessman tweeted: “I am on it, and it’s time to dump the Muslim mayor”.
Nine minutes later, Mullins replied to ChrisFi65328659’s post claiming that the “government is doing nothing to stop” Khan, tweeting: “Someone should kill him”.
The posts have led to Mullins’ account being suspended by X, due to a “violation” of the social media platform’s rules.
road.cc has contacted Mullins’ representatives about the suspension, but is yet to receive a response.
The posts, which have been described by other Twitter users as “racially motivated hate speech”, aren’t the first time Mullins has been put under the spotlight due to inflammatory comments concerning travel policies.
In 2020, the then-boss of Pimlico Plumbers, one of Britain’s largest plumbing firms, commissioned a Transport for London parody poster of a cyclist struggling to carry tools, which claimed that people on bikes were “taking f***ing liberties”.
An additional blog post, shared on the company’s website, then took aim at cycling infrastructure and “cycle fascists”, which Mullins’ PR team claimed were responsible for increasing the length of van journeys in the capital.
“I’ve had enough of cycle fascists whining about their precious road space when what they really want is to run all non-cycles off the road,” the blog, written in the first person as if by Mullins himself, said. “And I’m also sick of the bike bureaucrats who have taken over TFL, and who as we speak are painting great swathes of Central London’s roads blue, making it next to impossible to run any kind of service business.
“Businesses like mine, and many others that rely on the transport of large amounts of equipment, tools and goods about the city cannot operate on bicycles. It is a ridiculous proposition. Any fool can figure out it doesn’t work. And please don’t tell me to get a cargo bike because unless they are the size of a van or a lorry and can be made secure they are exactly as useful as a chocolate teapot.”
> Pimlico Plumbers worker caught using phone at the wheel by Cycling Mikey
The blog, which was subsequently watered down following an online backlash, concluded: “London is a city of commerce but that cannot continue if we hand the roads to these freeloading helmet heroes who believe they have a god given right to the roads to the detriment of all other users.”
Less than a month after that controversial blog post, Pimlico Plumbers then posted a video to Twitter calling for help in tracking down a cycling “criminal” who allegedly kicked out at a wing mirror on the Mullins’ Bentley.
> Pimlico Plumbers appeal to catch cycling ‘criminal’ – but get accused of faking footage
However, a number of users called out the footage as fake, with one accusing the firm of staging a publicity stunt and a “false flag” attack to whip up resentment against bike riders.
Mullins sold the company to US home services group Neighborly in a deal worth up to £145 million in September 2021, though his son remained involved as chief executive.
> Bike shop owner – who owns nine cars – says ULEZ expansion will cause “chaos”
These latest highly controversial posts from the London-born businessman, a former donor to the Conservative Party and business advisor to David Cameron and George Osborne, appear to represent the darker side of the politically charged opposition to the extended ULEZ, a scheme branded by Boris Johnson – who introduced the policy to London in 2015 during his stint as London Mayor – as a “mad lefty tax” on “hard-pressed motorists”.
At the end of July, a legal challenge launched by five Conservative-led councils, who claimed that the extension was “illegal”, was quashed by the High Court, while this week’s implementation of the scheme has been marked by confusion and misinformation.
> Bike brands bank on ULEZ expansion – but will enlarged clean air zone boost active travel?
Following the High Court ruling last month, Simon Munk from the London Cycling Campaign told road.cc: “It’s really good news that London’s ULEZ zone is now set to expand in August. London must act on pollution, at too high levels across the capital, and the expansion will be a positive step in not only delivering cleaner air but enabling people to use alternatives to cars.
“The legal action came primarily from councils that are among those who have done least on delivering action on air quality, climate emissions and walking, cycling and wheeling… We hope the leaders of the London boroughs involved reflect on what they have cost their own residents, and more, on how they now need to work with the rest of London on delivering cleaner air, lower emissions, and to enable residents to ditch car journeys whenever possible.
“ULEZ expanding is another step in the right direction for a healthier, cleaner, greener London.”
After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.
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103 comments
Which are linked to the article that clearly shows that Khan is targeted both as a politician and a muslim.
Did you read the comment I was replying to?
Implying that all anti-Khan banners are motivated by racism ignores the fact that anti-politician banners are routine at protests against policies.
There have been death threats against all manner of politicians over the years. It's not unique to Khan.
Remember the 'Hang the Tories' banner from conference season a few years ago?
Yes and I refer to my earlier responses. The comments are linked to the article that demonstrates Khan is being targetted for being a muslim as well as a politician.
Indeed - but to return to the article in this case there certainly seems to be a side-order of a certain prejudice in this case. I believe some other examples have been given in the past.
I suspect this is what moves it out of "political bantz" into something more concerning.
I imagine if someone had posted stuff threatening the life of "that kafir Boris" or Ken when they were mayor it would have attracted some concern. Clearly this chap thinks (if he did) he's got more popular support saying this kind of thing in a public space or believes this is just airing opinion - it's a throwaway line. (I doubt he's personally going to run over Khan - although if he claimed the sun was in his eyes...)
Did anyone hang the Tories? (Possibly the Whigs?) OTOH I'm pretty sure that racially / religiously motivated violence is a current, real occurrence albeit thankfully rare in the UK.
Never claimed to have a photographic memory except for text location, you and the now-banned trio Martin73, Rakia and thisismyusername took that statement and twisted it in your rather nasty little bullygroup way. Username's still here in a different guise so I'm sure you can get the band back together.
More importantly, I did not of course claim that politicians aren't vilified for their policies, I said that I can't recall in this country a politician receiving more personal vilification under the guise of attacking their policies. Perhaps you could point me to an instance where any other high-profile businessman has suggested that a politician should be killed and referenced their religion against them (and apparently received no greater sanction that the slap on the wrist of a Twitter suspension, road.cc appear to be the only news outlet even reporting it)?
So in your entire life you've never read an article refering to protests against Boris or Cameron or Thatcher?
How strange. Almost unbelievable...
Death threats against politicians are unfortunately incredibly common. The fact that this particular idiot is a prominent businessman doesn't really add anything.
To repeat, even though I know that you are deliberately being obtuse, of course there have been protests against every politician and always will be, however I cannot remember an issue, even the poll tax, where the protestors against the issue were so focused on attacking the person rather than the issue. I hope you've got it now because I don't have time to keep on repeating it until you understand.
I've provided three examples of political protests that were highly personal.
They weren't atypical examples.
Personal protests against Thatcher were routine to the extent that her funeral was targeted.
That memory of yours would be better described as selective.
However, attacks and criticism of Thatcher reflected views drawn from decades of right wing governance. During that time, the issues that led to those views were addressed repeatedly by people tackling the issues.
We had the Poll Tax riots, not the Get Thatcher riots.
The miners' strike was addressing the conditions they were put under - and much of the violence (reported at the time as being attacks launched on the police) were shown to be re-edited timelines of police attacks on strikers.
Villification is, by definition, ad hominem attacks designed to change opinion - necessarily an influencing factor; whereas the criticism of Thatcher was the culmination of opinions formed as a result of the issues - a receptive factor.
What we have now, demonstrably, is a series of attacks in predominantly right-wing media and online social media that seek to target and discredit the character of those in charge - often with implied abuse based on ethnicity or religious views, in lieu of dealing with the issues based on the evidence and reason.
The fact that sarcastic insults are aimed at Rendel's ability to understand and aimed at very specific points that don't deal with the generality of his argument rather proves his point.
It is therefore reasonable to disregard Mr Mullin's level of reason and argument because he fails to address real issues; instead he targets the proponents of policy with which he disagrees using insults and pejorative mischaracterisation.
It's a good thing that we've never seen such attacks against Conservative politicians...
The idea that Khan's treatment is in some way unusual is a laughable attempt at deflection.
That is not to condone threats against Khan but to simply point out that threats against politicians are, sadly, commonplace.
None of the banners or posters I've seen at ULEZ protests have been markedly different in tone or content to those frequently seen at protests against the Conservatives.
We still understand and you're still an idiot.
I don't know those lyrics. What song are they from then?
Isn't that from Green Day's "American Idiot"?
I did wonder, I wasn't sure.
That's your fourth reply to me today, I believe. Pretty good going considering you don't give two figs about me, nothing better to do hun?
Unfortunately for the rest of us, he doesn't understand that he is himself an idiot.
In fairness, credit for getting out of his box so many times, just to be squashed each time.
Which rest of us would that be then?
Out of his box? Another great band. Saw them at the Leadmill in Sheffield a few years back. Their version of Where have all the good trolls gone? is an all time classic.
A bit before my time, that one. My dad used to sing it on long car journeys though. How does it go?
Where have all the good trolls gone?
The mods have blocked them, every one.
Oh, When will you ever learn?
Hmm... that can't be right.
You are looking at this from an incredibly biased viewpoint. Many, many politicians receive abuse on a daily basis, death threats are very real.
Not to mention that when someone suggested I'd be better off as a KSI stat on no less than this road.cc forum, the mods were very reluctant to remove it, suggesting it wasn't actually meant.
Now work that one out.
When did this happen to you? I know a now banned user raised a similar point several months ago. Are you admitting to being the same banned user then?
There are a few things he's 'claimed' that don't add up and I am deeply suspicious of.
Ooh, do share them with the rest of the class! What are they, let me put your "mind" at rest. You're not going to accuse me of lying about things and then not say what they are are you? That would be the behaviour of a silly little bully with no proper arguments.
Don't need my mind put at rest and really couldn't give two figs about you.
Bullying though! From you and your cadre - hilarious
So in other words you're going to accuse me of lying but you're not actually going to tell me what these supposed lies are? A good technique in primary school but doesn't really work past the age of about seven. I'm very happy for you not to give two figs about me but I do wonder why then virtually your only appearances on this site are in order to attack me personally or something that I have said? It really has become quite a habit for somebody who allegedly doesn't care.
I have a cadre? Cool, when do we meet? I'll bring flapjacks if somebody else can organise the tea urn.
Alternate Thursdays, after the meeting for the Evil Cycling Lobby
Indeed. Ding-dong.
You can't threaten to kill a dead person, being dead is actually a pre-requisite to a funeral.
Tell that to Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna.
I think it was confirmed that the leg was dead before they buried it
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