MP Lee Anderson, the former deputy party chairman of the Conservative Party, has had the whip suspended after “refusing to apologise” for a series of comments he made. He claimed London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists in a rant on GB News last night.
But spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart confirmed the latest move on Saturday afternoon (February 24) after Mr Khan broke his silence over Mr Anderson’s comments.
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 Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP, with Mr Khan claiming the “deafening silence” of the PM 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.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps distanced himself from the remarks this morning, but stopped short of condemning his fellow MP, arguing people should be allowed to “speak their mind”.
Business minister Nus Ghani and senior backbencher Sir Sajid Javid were among other senior Tory figures joining a growing chorus of criticism from across the political divide.
In an appearance on GB News on Friday, Mr Anderson had said: “I don’t actually believe that the 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…
“He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”
Responding to the claim on Saturday, the Mayor of London said it was “Islamophobic, racist” and pours “fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.
He told broadcasters: “These comments from a senior Conservative are Islamophobic, are anti-Muslim and are racist.
“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 percent.
“I’m afraid the deafening silence from Rishi Sunak and from the Cabinet is them condoning this racism.”
Nigel Farage has urged Mr Anderson to ditch the Tories, telling Express.co.uk he should join Reform UK.
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