No one can successfully challenge the claim that England is one of the greatest countries in the recorded history of mankind. Indeed, Britain had the largest empire in history spanning almost three-quarters of the globe and its navy ruled the oceans.

England was the first country to experience an industrial revolution and was the workshop of the world with London as the financial centre and the Pound sterling the leading international currency.

Of course, Britain benefited from the empire, as the profits from the slave trade and West Indian sugar plantations financed the industrial revolution, while its products, such as textiles, had captive colonial markets in India.

The empire was irreparably weakened by the two world wars as Britain resisted the might of Germany long after others had surrendered.

During World War II thousands of colonial subjects fought and died for Britain. After the war, some of these people stayed in Britain, then came a flood of immigrants from India, Pakistan, and the West Indies claiming their rights as British subjects.

Unfortunately, the movement of people brought latent racism to a boil and a genuine multi-racial, multi-cultural society never really evolved. Footballers, athletes, cricketers, entertainers and outstanding persons were claimed by the majority but never wholly accepted.

The most difficult group to assimilate were the Muslims, mostly because they spoke different languages, dressed differently, ate different foods, and did not inter-marry. The religious and ethnic tensions triggered by their presence mutated into Islamophobia in recent years. Today, fear of terrorist links in the British Muslim community are rife, as an estimated 800 people have left Britain to fight for the Islamic State group.

In the midst of these heightened fears, Mr Sadiq Khan, the 45-year-old son of a bus driver from Pakistan, and practising Muslim, was elected mayor of London yesterday. Although Mr Khan was born in England and lived there all his life, his election could compound the tensions, especially with the persistent economic difficulties and England’s possible exit from the European Union.

The election result also raises a number of questions: First, will he be accepted by the majority of London’s citizens? Second, will he be allowed to function or be a divisive figure despite his best unifying efforts? Third, will it inflame racism or will it signal a new multi-culturalism? Fourth, is it the start of a new politics or will it lead to a backlash? After all, London is not Britain.

Approximately a quarter of London’s residents are foreign-born, and an estimated one-eighth are Muslim. This is different from the rest of Britain. Could Mr Khan’s election further drive a wedge between the Scottish electorate and the British Labour Party?

These are uncharted waters for the British people, but we hope and expect that they will live up to the credo of elective democracy which the British taught the world. The British are a great people. However, the greatness of a people is not measured only in wealth and military might, but in their ability to handle new and difficult situations. History shows that the British have always done so, and done so with civility.