Tory MP Paul Scully hints at future role as he joins Tory exodus after ‘no-go area’ warning

Scully denied that his decision to step down was in relation to the recent backlash he has faced over comments on "no-go areas" in two major cities.

During a recent interview with BBC London, Scully named Tower Hamlets and Spark Hill as "no-go areas" as people within them are "abusing their religion".

Reflecting on the comments on GB News, Scully apologised for the remark and claimed he "regrets not using the right language".

He told Martin Daubney: "I can walk around a lot of London without fear and and enjoy what this greatest city in the world has to offer. What I said today, I hope is going to actually pull us back into a sensible debate."

Speaking to GB News hosts Emily Carver and Tom Harwood today about his latest move, Scully said he delayed the announcement to "prevent association" with his recent backlash about the remarks.

He said it is "not right" that he remains in the position when another MP can "take up the cudgels and move things forward", admitting that the next five years will be a "challenge for me personally" and he had "lost his mojo sometime last year".

Scully said: "You look at what's happening in the party, I think Sutton and Cheam is eminently winnable."

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Scully continued: "I'd already told my association chairman the weekend before of my intentions.

"The only reason that it's taken so long to go public is because I didn't want it to be associated with that, it was not anything to do with my decision."

He added that he believes he has made the "right decision" in stepping down as MP.

Reflecting on the recent scandal on "no-go" areas, Scully told GB News that an age of "social media" has contributed to his interview receiving the criticism that it did.

Scully explained: "I just think there's a big disassociation, especially on social media, when you're speaking about something so important as community cohesion.

"To boil it down to four inappropriate words that I chose rather than the 12 minute interview, when I was arguing exactly the opposite of what I've been accused of doing.

"I think it's just born on my frustration of politics as a whole and where we are going, where we risk going as a party over the next five years if we don't up our game and create a vision, a different positive vision for the country."