Supporting frontline workers is how we stand up for London’s values, writes Sadiq Khan

But these everyday luxuries depend on an invisible army of frontline workers – many up hours before we get out of bed and many still working when we fall asleep.

The COVID-19 pandemic was a stark reminder of how vital these workers are. It was our doctors, nurses and teachers, our police officers, firefighters and delivery drivers, our bin collectors, shop workers and public transport workers who put themselves in harm’s way to keep the rest of us safe and our country functioning.

For a brief moment – as we stood outside our front doors clapping on a Thursday evening – we recognised a fact we’d long ignored: it’s the jobs that our society so often underpays and undervalues that are the most essential. We can live without our footballers and our TV personalities for a few months - however painful that may be. But we can’t survive without our frontline staff, even for one day.

I’d love to say the pandemic marked a step change in the way we respect and respond to frontline staff in our city. Sadly, though, there’s been a worrying spike in harassment and abuse.

Racist abuse of NHS nurses has jumped by 86% in recent years, and the number of nurses from minority backgrounds calling the Royal College of Nursing’s advice line to seek help after being racially abused rose by 70% between 2022 and 2025.

This year, there has been a 28% increase in incidents of violence and aggression against bus drivers and rail operating staff in our city, compared to 2023-2024.

Meanwhile, a poll by Opinium for the British Retail Consortium found that almost a third of Londoners have witnessed violence or abuse against retail workers while shopping. In 2025, there were 1,600 incidents of violence and abuse against retail workers every day across the UK – the second highest level on record.

Behind every one of these figures is a human being. Someone who got up, put on a uniform and went to work. To help customers, transport Londoners, or heal the sick. Someone who should have been thanked for their selfless service – but instead, was punched, assailed with racial slurs, or attacked with a hot drink thrown in their face.

It’s shameful that in London – a city whose diversity is baked into our DNA – frontline workers are now reporting fear and burnout as a direct result of racist abuse.

And it's shameful that - in recent years - the normalisation of increasingly extreme views in our politics and media has left racists feeling emboldened. Poison has been pumped into our public debate - and too often, the people who pay the highest price are those working on the frontline.

Only a few weeks ago, we saw the sickening displays of racism and Islamophobia on stage at the so-called ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally. There are those – like the organisers of said rally – who seek to sow division and pit our communities against one another, because it serves their own personal or political interests. Being advocates for hate has brought them money, fame and attention. But we must not let them infect the culture of our beautiful, diverse and dynamic city.

London is a modern, multicultural metropolis. A place where it doesn’t matter who you are or where you're from, you can call this city home and call yourself a Londoner.

London is a place for everyone. That’s what makes our city special. And that’s what we must fight to protect. The rising tide of racial discrimination is utterly unacceptable, and it must stop.

Londoners know we must do better. Recent polling from YouGov shows only a quarter of Londoners think retail and hospitality workers are consistently shown enough thanks for the work they do, and more than a third think the public behaves negatively towards transport workers.

There’s a simple fix – and it starts with all of us. It starts with standing up for London’s values of diversity, equality and decency, and standing beside the people who keep our city running.

That's why today, I'm launching a new campaign and calling on all Londoners to join me in showing solidarity with our frontline workers. Together, through our daily actions and interactions, we can create a culture where every frontline worker - whether they're driving our buses, caring for our loved ones, or stacking our shelves, knows they are loved, wanted and respected. Not just in times of crisis, but every day.

That is the London our frontline workers deserve, and the London we can build together.

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Sir Sadiq Khan is the Labour Mayor of London.

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