The Evening Standard reports that London mayor Boris Johnson is off on a week-long trade mission to the Gulf. Accompanying him on his visit to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar is, of all people, Lynton Crosby.

Crosby, you may recall, is the man who ran Johnson’s 2012 mayoral election campaign, during which he advised Johnson to target traditional white Tory voters and not waste his time trying to appeal to “f****** Muslims”. Is Crosby really an appropriate person to accompany the mayor on an official visit to Muslim-majority countries?

London Assembly member Murad Qureshi sees a bit of a contradiction here: