On social media it was pointed out that Mr Khan did not say that attacks were to be expected, but rather that the threat of them was part of life.

The mayor’s statement was made after the New York bombing, in which 29 people were wounded by homemade explosives placed in rubbish bins in Manhattan.

“Part and parcel of living in a great global city is you’ve got to be prepared for these things, you’ve got to be vigilant, you’ve got to support the police doing an incredibly hard job,” said Mr Khan, who was in New York at the time.

“The terrorists are evolving their tactics and we have got to evolve our response to them all the time. I am afraid the consequences of a terror attack are very, very scary. They want to kill. They want to maim and terrify. It is my job to try to make sure that we are as safe as we can be.”