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”.

Charlie Mullins Sadiq Khan tweets
Charlie Mullins Sadiq Khan tweets (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

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”.

Charlie Mullins Sadiq Khan tweets 2
Charlie Mullins Sadiq Khan tweets 2 (Image Credit: Farrelly Atkinson)

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.

> Pimlico Plumbers publish article describing “cycle fascists whining about their precious road space” 

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.”

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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.

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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.”