Mr Khan told The Times that he has been placed under protection after receiving volatile abuse on social media, ranging from “name calling and trolling” to threats of terrorism.

The former MP for Tooting added that levels of abuse across the UK have risen since the 2016 Brexit referendum.

He said: “It can’t be right that one of the consequences of me being the mayor of London and a Muslim in public life is that I have police protection.

“The referendum campaign allowed things to come to the surface and normalised things that should not be normalised.”

The Times reported that City Hall referred 17 cases to the police in a three-month period last year and 237 threats were made on social media.

Mr Khan defeated Zac Goldsmith to succeed Boris Johnson as mayor in 2016.

The Labour politician said there had been a rise in Islamophobia, anti-Semitism and homophobia, but that he did not place the blame for this at the door of Leavers.

However, he told the magazine: “It starts with name-calling, it can lead to criminal damage and graffiti (and) ultimately to the situation where Jo Cox is murdered or a terrorist can come to London and try to divide communities.”

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