Reform MP Lee Anderson has hit back at those who criticised him for his St George's Day video where he celebrated "patriotism" and said: "This country of ours has been a gift to the world."
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Anderson celebrated the day of the patron saint with a clip of himself dressed in a suit with St George cufflinks.
In the footage, the former Tory MP said: "You see it the flag of St George, it is St George's day today and this country of ours has been a gift to the world.
"Look at the Industrial Revolution, culture, arts, music, sports. Everywhere you look on this planet, you see some of that."
Lee Anderson caused a stir online with his video
GB News
However some social media users fumed over the video, and one person responded: "St George was born in Cappadocia, Turkey, the 27th biggest producer of avocados.
"He's also the patron saint of Catalonia, which celebrates La Diada de Saint Jordi today and over the nations, if he arrived in the UK shores, right-wingers like you would deport him to Rwanda."
Talking about the retaliation to his post Anderson said: "These people are completely wrong about this person being deported to Rwanda.
"St George would probably get put in a four star hotel and would put a dodgy asylum claim in, go to the local church and claim he is a Christian to get baptised and then do whatever he wants to do.
"This is nonsense. Whenever I put something on social media that is seen as patriotic, you get these lunatics just coming out and just dissing our country.
"Quite frankly, I've always said it. If you're not happy with our history, our heritage, our culture, our way of life, and things like St George's Day, then clear off and go live in another country."
Lee Anderson pointed to his St George cufflinks
GB News/X
In a caption for the post, he wrote: “Trigger Warning. If you are a Guardian reading, advacado eating, Palestinian flag waving, Eddie Izzard supporting Vegan then this clip is probably not for your consumption.”
His remarks drew amusement on X where critics picked up on his misspelling of the word “avocado”, and noted the connection between Palestine and St George, which is celebrated not just in England, but in parts of Africa, the Middle East, the Caucasus and South America.
Comedian Shaparak Khorsandi wrote: “Who is going to tell him about St George’s connection to Palestine? (His mother was Palestinian, they too have a St George’s day/feast. Though to be fair, it is not known if he was related to Eddie Izzard).”
St George is the patron Saint of England
GettyAnderson also featured in a separate clip posted by Reform UK against the backdrop of a large England flag, in which he said: “Hello everyone, happy St George’s Day.
"Look at this behind me – I’m a proud Englishman, I’m proud to be British as well.
"Are you fed up with people dissing our history, our heritage, our culture? I am. Love the flag, please share it."