London's Mayor Says Brexit, US Elections Show Rising Need for Social Solidarity

It has been clearly evident following Brexit and an unexpected victory of Donald Trump in the US presidential elections that people are becoming increasingly disconnected from national politics, hence comes the need to build a strong sense of social solidarity within cities, Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said on Monday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — At a Social Integration Conference at the City Hall that was attended by other mayors from around the United Kingdom, Europe and the deputy mayor of New York, Khan stressed that political division must be contained and prevented from spreading into cities and urged leaders to unite people instead of separating them as well as "to build bridges instead of walls" for communities to live in harmony.

"We have seen major political upheaval around the world in recent months, with the EU referendum here in the UK and the presidential election in the US… This has shown how politics is becoming more and more polarized with whole communities in cities across the world feeling increasingly disconnected and estranged from national politics. That’s why now, more than ever, we need to build a strong sense of social solidarity within our cities," Khan said in a statement.

Khan warned against taking the issue of social integration not seriously and said that failing to take measures to prevent social division among different groups and races of the society will have great economic and social costs.

This year's Social Integration Conference represented the first time in which a number of mayors from across Europe gather to figure out solutions to create more united communities.