Lee Anderson has been suspended by the Conservative party after he refused to apologise for ‘Islamophobic, racist’ comments where he claimed that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by ‘Islamists’.
A spokesperson for the party’s chief whip Simon Hart said the decision had been made following the former Tory deputy chairman’s ‘refusal to apologise’ for the remarks made on Friday.
Pressure had been mounting on Rishi Sunak to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP, with Mr Khan saying the ‘deafening silence’ of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet amounted to condoning racism.
A spokesperson for Mr Hart said: ‘Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the Chief Whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.’
A Conservative source was defending Mr Anderson last night and this morning before he was stripped of party support at around 3pm this afternoon.
This comes after Sadiq Khan hit out against Anderson earlier this afternoon for ‘pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred’.
Lee Anderson has been suspended by the Conservative party after he refused to apologise for ‘Islamophobic, racist’ comments where he claimed that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by ‘Islamists’
Sadiq Khan has hit out against Lee Anderson for ‘pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred’ after the Tory MP made ‘Islamophobic, racist’ comments about him
Lee Anderson (pictured) said on GB News last night that Sadiq Khan – the first Muslim Mayor of London – is controlled by Islamists and that he has ‘given our capital city away to his mates’
The Mayor criticised Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (pictured) for his ‘deafening silence’
Pressure had been mounting on Rishi Sunak to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP, with Mr Khan (pictured) saying the ‘deafening silence’ of the Prime Minister and his Cabinet amounted to condoning racism
The ex-deputy Tory chairman said on GB News last night that Khan – the first Muslim Mayor of London – is controlled by Islamists and that he has ‘given our capital city away to his mates’.
Mr Anderson said last night: ‘I don’t actually believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London and they’ve got control of Starmer as well.
‘Again, this stems with Khan, he’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.
‘Beware, because if you let Labour in through the back door, expect more of this and expect our cities to be taken over by these lunatics.’
Speaking to Sky News, Mr Khan said the comments from the senior Conservative MP ‘pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred’.
He added: ‘We’ve seen over the last two days confirmation that over the last few months there had been an increase in anti-Muslim cases by more than 330%.
‘I am afraid the deafening silence from Rishi Sunak and from the cabinet is them condoning this racism.
‘I am afraid it confirms to many people across the country that there’s a hierarchy when it comes to racism.
‘I think it’s really important to call out antisemitism, it’s really important to call out misogyny, it’s really important to call out homophobia, but surely it must also be important to call out anti-Muslim hatred.
‘My concern is there will be people across the country – people who are Muslim or look like Muslims – who will be really concerned about entering into politics because they know that if these are the comments being made about me by a senior Conservative, what chance do they have?’
He said he was not sure why members of the cabinet were not ‘calling this out’ and condemning Anderson’s words.
This morning, the Defence Secretary said he ‘wouldn’t phrase things like that’, when asked whether Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan were acceptable – but he stopped short of condemning them.
Tory Minister Nus Ghani branded Lee Anderson’s comments as ‘both foolish and dangerous’
Anderson’s comments, which were made following pro-Palestine protests outside Parliament, have been condemned by Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds
Former Conservative chancellor Sir Sajid Javid branded Anderson’s remarks as ‘ridiculous’
The ex-deputy Tory chairman said on GB News last night that Khan (pictured) is controlled by Islamists and that he has ‘given our capital city away to his mates’
Grant Shapps distanced himself from Mr Anderson’s claim that Islamists had ‘got control’ of Mr Khan and that the mayor had ‘given our capital city away to his mates’.
But Mr Shapps added that he thinks the Mayor has done ‘terrible things to our capital’ and that he had concerns about the way pro-Palestinian protests are being policed.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said: ‘I haven’t seen the comments, I should say, so just based off what you’ve just told me, but it’s certainly not the way I would put things.
‘I think there are more concerns about the way that some of these protests have been taking place, in particular what we saw projected onto Parliament this week, but I certainly wouldn’t phrase things like that.’
Asked whether Mr Anderson should lose the Tory whip, Mr Shapps said the matter was ‘one for party itself’.
The Defence Secretary declined to say whether Mr Anderson was a good representative voice for the Conservative Party, saying only that ‘we live in a democracy where people are allowed to speak their mind and Lee Anderson, I think, is famed for speaking his mind.’
Sadiq Khan accused the PM and the cabinet of being ‘complicit in this sort of racism’ for not condemning Lee Anderson.
‘The message it sends is Muslims are fair game when it comes to racism and anti-Muslim hatred,’ he told Sky News. ‘It’s not good enough in 2024 in the United Kingdom.’
The Labour Party earlier wrote to Rishi Sunak demanding that he withdraw the Tory whip from Anderson for his ‘vile Islamophobia’ and ‘dangerous conspiracy theories’.
Shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth, who penned the letter, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Sunak has a clear choice: show some backbone and withdraw the whip or be forever known as too weak to take them on.’
Removing the whip means that Anderson would no longer sit as a Tory MP within the House of Commons.
A Conservative source said this morning: ‘Lee was simply making the point that the Mayor, in his capacity as PCC for London, has abjectly failed to get a grip on the appalling examples of extremism we have seen in London recently.’
A serving junior Tory minister earlier hit out against Anderson, saying his comments are ‘both foolish and dangerous’.
Business minister of state Nus Ghani, who is a Muslim, wrote at 11.46am on X: ‘I have spoken to Lee Anderson.
‘I’ve called out Islamic extremism (& been attacked by hard left, far right & Islamists).
‘I don’t for one moment believe that Sadiq Khan is controlled by Islamists. To say so, is both foolish and dangerous.
‘Frankly this is all so tiring…’
MailOnline has contacted the Conservative Party to ask if the PM supports Ms Ghani, but no response has been received.
Conservative leader at London City Hall, Neil Garratt, also criticised Anderson
Former Conservative MP and Theresa May’s ex-chief of staff Gavin Barwell slammed Anderson
Grant Shapps (pictured) distanced himself from Mr Anderson’s claim that Islamists had ‘got control’ of Mr Khan and that the mayor had ‘given our capital city away to his mates’
Anderson’s comments, which were made following pro-Palestine protests outside Parliament, were earlier condemned by Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds as ‘unambiguously racist and Islamophobic’.
She wrote on X: ‘Rishi Sunak needs to immediately remove the whip.
If he is too weak, then people will take their own view of the modern Conservative Party.’
Former Conservative chancellor and Home Secretary Sir Sajid Javid, who is of Muslim background but does not practice any religion, branded Anderson’s remarks as ‘a ridiculous thing to say’.
Conservative leader at London City Hall, Neil Garratt, also criticised Anderson, saying: ‘The Saturday marches fuel both antisemitism and the fear of antisemitism. Many Jews no longer feel welcome in their own city, hence why I have repeatedly argued that the police should do more.
‘But Islamists have not taken control of Sadiq Khan, and they are not running London.
‘I have no shortage of criticisms of Mayor Khan as regular viewers will know, but he is not an Islamist, he is not in the pockets of Islamists, and I completely disagree with anyone who says otherwise.’
Former Conservative MP and Theresa May’s ex-chief of staff Gavin Barwell slammed Anderson for his comments, tweeting: ‘A despicable slur on @SadiqKhan and Londoners.
‘In his first speech as PM, @RishiSunak said he would “unite our country”. If he allows the likes of Anderson to spread hate and division like this, those words will be revealed as a sham.’
Anderson (pictured) was one of the deputy chairmen of the Conservative Party until January, but he resigned as he planned to rebel over the vote of the Government’s Rwanda bill
Shadow cabinet member Jonathan Ashworth (pictured), who penned the letter, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘Sunak has a clear choice: show some backbone and withdraw the whip or be forever known as too weak to take them on’
The Muslim Council of Britain has also urged the Prime Minister to withdraw the whip from Anderson, saying: ‘In a week where we learn of an explosion in Islamophobic hate crimes, influential MPs and a donor to the Conservative Party are endorsing common talking points that peddle conspiracy theories and Islamophobic tropes of alleged Muslim takeovers of our country.
‘Deputy Chair, Lee Anderson’s claim that the Islamists have taken charge of London and of the Mayor is a disgusting slur that has no place in our public life.
‘The silence of the Party in the face of such extremism as we approach the Mayoral election, echoes the racist Zac Goldsmith campaign and shows that the institutional Islamophobia in the Conservative Party continues unabated. The Goldsmith campaign failed then and we are confident this approach will fail again.
‘We urge the Party to act immediately and withdraw the whip from Mr Anderson.’
Anderson was one of the deputy chairmen of the Conservative Party until January, but he resigned as he planned to rebel over the vote of the Government’s Rwanda bill.
But he ended up abstaining on the vote after he said Labour MPs ‘were sniggering and taking the mick’ out of him as he stood in the No Lobby to vote.
In the same interview with GB News last night, Anderson said that politicians should take over the from the police as they were not cracking down hard enough on pro-Palestine protesters.
He said: ‘Ultimately we run the country, and if the police aren’t doing their job – and they’re not doing their job… we need to step in and take over.’
