Lee Anderson: A Cleverly victory would have secured my seat for the next 20 years
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson has said he is disappointed that James Cleverly did not make it through to the final round of the Conservative leadership contest as it would have ensured he remained an MP.
The MP for Ashfield also said Keir Starmer should take the same “robust” action with Muslim extremists as he did with rioters.
Speaking on GB News Lee Anderson said: “We’ve seen over the past few years, we've let everybody and his dog into this country. We've had uncontrolled borders.
“We've seen people sneaking in the country through the back door. We've seen people being radicalised in this country. And I'm actually very, very concerned.
“We see the events going off in the Middle East. We see the events going off in Gaza.
“I think it's a poll this week where lots of young people have sympathy with what's going on in Palestine. It's very worrying and I fear for this country sometimes I really do. And we've sat idly by over the past few years and absolutely nothing to stop this threat.
“We’ve seen Sir Keir, he was very robust just a few weeks ago when people were out there demonstrating, throwing bricks and being nuisances in society, they were arrested, charged and put in prison within a matter of days.
“If he took the same sort of robust action with this demographic we're talking about, it would stop very, very quickly.”
Discussing the Conservative leadership election, he said: “I don't fear any of them, to be honest with you. I know Rob very, very well and I class him as a friend. He's a good guy. So is Kemi.
“Rob's going to campaign quite clearly on leaving the ECHR. Kemi has not come out and admitted she will do that.
“The problem Rob's got is yes, he might want to campaign on leaving the ECHR, but the parliamentary party, the Shadow Cabinet will never back him on that.
“And it's going to be interesting to see how many people are actually electing the Conservative Party membership, I suspect is not as many as Reform UK, we'll have to wait and see.
“But which type of members are still in the Conservative Party? Is it the wets, the liberals, the remainers? Because I tell you what, I think the vast majority of the true conservatives have left and come to Reform UK.
“I think Kemi to be honest with you, she sort of said she doesn't want anything to do with Nigel Farage. I think that's a pretty foolish thing to say. I think Robert's been a bit more open about this. He’s speaking our sort of language. But, like I say, who knows?
“The membership has probably changed massively over the past year or so since Reform UK have been on the march. And I think a lot of the true conservatives in the Conservative Party membership have probably come out to Reform UK, so Kemi may well get it.
“It might be a little bit lively on a Wednesday afternoon at the dispatch boxes [if Kemi were elected] because at the moment, let's be honest, PMQs is quite boring.
“Kemi’s got a little bit of fire in her belly. Rob's pretty good at the dispatch box as well.
“But you know what? I think the Conservative Party at the moment are a busted flush. I really think they are.
“I mean, Cleverly going out, I'm disappointed. I wanted him to actually win the leadership contest, because if he’d have won I'd have been in that place for another 20 years.”
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