Evening Standard/London

London’s mayoral battle exploded into a bitter war of words yesterday after Zac Goldsmith launched a full-blown attack on Sadiq Khan.
The Conservative MP for Richmond Park unleashed a six-point barrage against his Labour rival in a paper being delivered by activists in the capital. In it he claims Khan:
l Is a machine politician who has always put his party first and “blindly” supported more spending and more taxes.
l Flip flops on big issues including Heathrow expansion.
l Nominated Jeremy Corbyn for Labour leader and “always votes with him in Parliament”.
l Was chosen by the unions, is financially backed by the unions and cannot be relied upon to stand up for Londoners in the face of strikes.
l Called voters “*****” for voting against Labour at the General Election in May.
l Shows no interest in getting a good deal from Government, and his “divisive and radical politics” will mean fewer affordable homes, less reliable transport and divided communities.
However, Goldsmith’s onslaught sparked a stinging response from Khan’s team, with one source suggesting the reference to “divisive and radical politics” may be seen as a “coded racist attack”.
A spokesman for Khan, the MP  for Tooting, said: “The Crosby-Goldsmith smear machine is in full swing already. Sadly it looks like we can expect yet another divisive and dog-whistling campaign from the Tories. We hoped Goldsmith meant it when he said that he wanted a clean campaign — but sadly it appears he’s reverted to type.”
A source on the Khan campaign also suggested that the phrase “divisive and radical politics” could be seen as “code for a Muslim” and as a “coded racist attack”.
A spokesman for the Goldsmith campaign said: “This is about holding Sadiq Khan and constant flip-flopping to account.”
The campaign’s director is Mark Fullbrook, a partner in CTF, the firm co-founded by Tory general election mastermind Lynton Crosby.
A spokesman for Mr Crosby said: “Lynton Crosby is not running this campaign.”