Lee Anderson has Tory whip suspended amid Sadiq Khan 'Islamist' row as he refuses to apologise

Lee Anderson has Tory whip suspended amid Sadiq Khan 'Islamist' row as he refuses to apologise

Sadiq Khan condemns Lee Anderson’s ‘Islamophobic, racist and anti-Islam' comments

GB News
Georgina Cutler

By Georgina Cutler


Published: 24/02/2024

- 15:06

Updated: 24/02/2024

- 16:32

Sadiq Khan condemned Lee Anderson's remarks and branded them 'racist'

Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative Party amid a dispute with Sadiq Khan over "Islamophobic" comments.

The ex-deputy Tory party chair has refused to apologise for his remarks.


Anderson previously said: "I don’t actually believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is that they’ve got control of Khan, they’ve got control of London. He's actually given our capital city away to his mates."

A spokesperson for Chief Whip Simon Hart said: "Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the Chief Whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP."

Lee Anderson with inset of Rishi Sunak

Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative Party amid a dispute with Sadiq Khan over 'Islamophobic' comments

Getty/ PA

London Mayor Khan criticised Anderson, saying his remarks were "Islamophobic, racist and anti-Islam".

Responding, Khan said: "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's been an increase in anti Muslim cases by more than 330 per cent.

"These comments pour fuel on the fire of anti Muslim hatred and I'm afraid the deafening silence from Rishi Sunak and from the cabinet is them condoning this racism.

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"And I'm afraid it confirms to many people across the country that there's a hierarchy when it comes to racism."

Following his suspension Anderson said: "Following a call with the Chief Whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the Prime Minister in with regard to my comments.

"I fully accept that they had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances.

"However, I will continue to support the Government's efforts to call out extremism in all its forms - be that anti-semitism or islamophobia."

Anderson's comments come in response to an article by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, who wrote "the Islamists, the extremists and the anti-Semites are in charge" of the country.

Lee Anderson

The ex-deputy Tory party chair has refused to apologise for his remarks

Getty

Some members of the Conservative Party criticised Anderson, including former cabinet minister Sajid Javid who branded his comments as "ridiculous".

Anneliese Dodds MP, Labour Party Chair, responding to Lee Anderson having the Tory whip removed, said: “Lee Anderson's comments were unambiguously Islamophobic, divisive and damaging.

"It is right that he has had the whip removed, but the suggestion that Lee Anderson would have retained the confidence of the Prime Minister, simply if he apologised, is deeply concerning.

"These views are wrong, full stop, and there shouldn’t be conditions on removing them from your party.

“It's clear the Prime Minister still needs to do more to tackle extremists in his party, with former Prime Minister Liz Truss and former Home Secretary Suella Braverman still unashamedly giving voice to hateful commentary and conspiracy theories.

“Labour is calling on the Prime Minister to also remove the whip from Liz Truss for her egregious and embarrassing comments about our country on the international stage and if he doesn't then he is not serious about ridding the Conservatives of radical and dangerous views.”

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