Sadiq Khan splurged £200,000 of taxpayers' cash on Pride events last year - with police forces and the Whitehall blob also spending thousands

Published: 23:50, 12 April 2026 | Updated: 23:50, 12 April 2026 Sadiq Khan splurged £200,000 of taxpayers' cash on Pride events last year, figures reveal, with police forces and the Whitehall blob also spending thousands. London's Labour mayor handed over a £125,000 grant for the 'delivery' of London Pride, an annual LGBTQI+ festival and parade held annually in the capital. Data from Freedom of Information requests show he showered another £30,000 on the organisers of Black Pride, a festival for LGBTQI+ people of African heritage. A further £18,514 was spent throwing the 'Mayor's Pride reception' bash, with the money splashed on venue hire, catering and 'dressing'. And another £25,200 was spent on City Hall's 'participation in London Pride parade' in July last year, which included cash for a 'float, dressing, security, welfare'. The sums dwarf the amount handed over by Manchester's Labour mayor Andy Burnham, who FOI requests show gave £33,000 to Manchester Pride. A further £900 was spent on 'entry to the Pride Parade' in August last year. Both City halls also handed over £2,575 each to pro-transgender rights charity Stonewall for participation in its 'Diversity Champions' programme, despite many public bodies having cut ties over concerns about political impartiality and the scheme's value for money. As part of spending on Pride events, Sadiq Khan spent £18,514 on throwing the 'Mayor's Pride reception' bash, with the money splashed on venue hire, catering and 'dressing' Wider figures obtained by the Mail found several police forces spent more than £10,000 funding and participating in Pride events. Several gave grants of up to £2,000 towards throwing Pride rallies while others bought merchandise such as t-shirts and rainbow-coloured fans and whistles so officers could take part in Pride Month, in June last year. West Midlands Police splashed £328 on 'Policing with Pride' t-shirts for officers to wear, with a further £83 splashed on 'Flags, stickers & other accessories.' Gwent Police in Wales shelled out £500 on 'Rainbow Gwent Police-branded fans and miscellaneous coloured whistles'. Along with the Wiltshire and Dyfed-Powys forces, it handed over a £1,000 grant to local pride events. Devon and Cornwall Police spent £975 sponsoring events during Pride Month while Thames Valley Police shelled out £1,000 on Pride 'merchandise'. South Wales Police said it awarded a £2,000 grant to Cardiff Pride, an annual festival for LGBT people also known as Pride Crmyu, which took place in Pride Month last year (June 2025). British Transport Police spent £300 on a Pride Month 2025 workshop 'to explore the powerful intersections of race, sexuality, and upbringing while considering how these experiences shape personal and professional identity.' The Ministry of Defence shelled out nearly £700 on 65 Pride t-shirts for 'MoD Civil Servants to wear whilst on the London Pride 2025 [parade]' Meanwhile, Whitehall departments also spent thousands of pounds on Pride jamborees. The Cabinet Office shelled out £7,395 so 750 civil servants could take part in 27 Pride events. It said its spending on Pride related to more than two dozen events that took place for staff across several Whitehall departments. And the Ministry of Defence shelled out nearly £700 on 65 Pride t-shirts for 'MoD Civil Servants to wear whilst on the London Pride 2025 [parade]'. It comes despite ministers' attempts to crack down on Whitehall diversity spending. William Yarwood, media campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance said: 'Taxpayers are sick to the back teeth of spending on woke events. 'Brits expect money to be spent on frontline services and keeping the streets safe, not on subsidising political jamborees and branded rainbow merchandise. 'Sadiq Khan, the blob and police forces must stop playing politics and get back to the basics of governance and crime-fighting.' Sir John Hayes, chair of the Common Sense group of Tory MPs, said: 'It's pretty bizarre that police should feel it necessary to spend money that should be spent on deterring and detecting crime on those kinds of events. 'That's not what the police are about. When people's homes are burgled or they suffer a street crime they expect police to devote all their resources to dealing with those kind of things. 'More than £10,000 on Pride events is not what my constituents would expect the police would be doing and I'd much rather that was spent on maintaining law and order. 'It's also true that it's strange Khan should devote so much money to a particular cause rather than on causes which everyone can be part of. 'This does seem to be an extraordinary amount.' London City Hall also arranged several events during Pride Month last year for staff to attend. It spent £300 on a 'Pride Month Soho Walking Tour' and £250 on a 'Queer literature lunchtime session', according to the response to the FOI, submitted by the Mail. A spokesman for the Mayor of London said: 'London's Pride is the largest LGBTQI+ event and parade in the country, bringing more than 1.5million people together and showing why our capital is a global beacon of openness and inclusion. 'Pride showcases London's diversity at its very best, supporting LGBTQI+ communities and attracting visitors from across the UK and around the world, as we build a fairer London for everyone.' The Cabinet Office said: 'The Cabinet Office provided £7,395 to fund the cross-Civil Service LGBT Network presence at Pride, covering 27 events taking place across the UK during summer 2025, to the end of September. 'Up to 750 colleagues from across the Civil Service participated in the series of events.' No comments have so far been submitted. 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