Lee Anderson has refused to apologise for saying that London mayor Sadiq Khan is controlled by “Islamists,” following the Tory Party’s decision to suspend the whip from him for his remarks over the weekend.
Mr Anderson’s remarks have reignited an Islamophobia row within the party. Business minister Nus Ghani and senior Tory backbencher Sir Sajid Javid are among those calling out the remarks, while Sir Robert Buckland denounced them as “repugnant” and “racist” on Sunday.
The Prime Minister has commented publicly on the fallout for the first time this morning, telling Radio York that Mr Anderson’s comments were “wrong” but denying that the Tory Party has Islamophobic tendencies.
Mr Khan wrote an article in the Evening Standard today decrying Mr Anderson’s “vile racist, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic remarks,” and the fact that Mr Sunak is yet to “call it what it is”.
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We are going to leave this blog here for today; here’s a recap of what has been happening:
- Lee Anderson has doubled down on his criticism of Sadiq Khan and refused to apologise for remarks that sparked an Islamophobia row, as Rishi Sunak came under pressure to call out his words as Islamophobic.
- The former Tory deputy chairman on Monday admitted his original remarks were “clumsy”, but said saying sorry “would be a sign of weakness”.
- It came after the Prime Minister broke his silence on the matter to denounce Mr Anderson’s comments that cost him the Conservative whip as “wrong”.
- However, the Prime Minister and every other Tory MP asked about the incident refused to say that Mr Anderson’s remarks were Islamophobic.
- Sir Keir Starmer said the Tory leader “lacks the backbone to call this out for what it is”. Speaking to reporters in Shrewsbury, the Labour leader said: “I think this is straightforward. It’s Islamophobia and the Prime Minister should call it out for what it is.
- Mr Khan said the Prime Minister’s refusal to call Mr Anderson’s remarks Islamophobic “speaks volumes”.
- The Labour Mayor wrote in the Evening Standard: “It shouldn’t be hard to call out comments that are so unambiguously ignorant, prejudiced and racist. Yet those at the top of the Conservative Government are stubbornly refusing to do so. It’s a tacit endorsement of anti-Muslim hatred and can only lead to the conclusion that anti-Muslim bigotry and racism are not taken seriously.”
- The Ashfield MP was suspended over the weekend after he claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of Mr Khan and London.
- The Prime Minister also declined to criticise former home secretary Suella Braverman, who claimed “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now”.
Sunak refuses to call Anderson’s comments Islamophobic, says democratic processes are being threatened
Rishi Sunak has refused in an interview with Andy Bell of Channel 5 News to call Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan Islamophobic.
He said: “I’ve been very clear that what Lee said was wrong, it was unacceptable and that’s why we suspended the whip and it’s important that everybody, but particularly elected politicians, are careful with their words and do not inflame tensions.”
Pressed on the question, he said: “I think the most important thing is the words were wrong.”
Asked if Mr Anderson would be welcomed back into the Tory Party if he were to apologise, Mr Sunak said: “I think the most important thing now is something was said, that I didn’t agree with, I didn’t think was right, and that’s why the whip was suspended, and that was the right course of action in this situation.”
Mr Sunak also claimed that people “are frustrated” that “our democratic process [is being] threatened. We have a proud tradition in our country of debating ideas and disagreeing, but we do that peacefully and respectfully.
“We don’t aggressively intimidate people, we don’t disrupt their private events, we don’t go and surround MP’s homes, and we don’t threaten what’s going on in Parliament to the extent that processes there have to be changed.
“None of that is right, none of that is British and I think everyone will feel, as I do, incredibly frustrated when they see those things happening.”
Mr Sunak also said that Mr Bell was “conflating lots of different things” when asked about Suella Braverman claiming Islamists are in charge of the country, and Liz Truss not stopping Steve Bannon when he called anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson a “hero”.
“I’m sure Liz Truss does not agree with Steve Bannon on that point, I haven’t seen all those comments and I haven’t seen exactly what happened,” he added.
GB News throws support behind Lee Anderson despite Islamophobia row
Lee Anderson is set to remain a prominent figure on GB News, according to insiders, as Ofcom weighs up whether his inflammatory claim that “Islamists” have “got control over London” merits a new investigation into the channel.
GB News sources said bosses will stand by the former Conservative deputy chairman, whose remarks have prompted a row over “Islamophobia” within the party.
Ofcom could launch a fresh investigation into the broadcaster, which is facing 13 inquiries over impartiality and fairness issues.
Mr Anderson’s remarks, made on GB News last week, have been a publicity boost for the channel, which capitalised on the story by releasing an exclusive statement from its presenter, in which he refused to apologise.
“Lee’s role is to stir things up,” a GB News insider said. “He had the licence to say things to right-wing viewers that [Rishi] Sunak can’t. But he wouldn’t have intended to go as far as to lose the whip.”
Read more here.
Humza Yousaf calls for investigation into ‘structural Islamophobia’ in Tory Party
Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf has called for an investigation into “structural Islamophobia” in the Tory party.
He said that Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan were “a further demonstration of the fact that Islamophobia is normalised” in the party.
He added: “You can look at any one of the tweets I put out, or any one of the social media posts I put out, and you will see streams of Islamophobic abuse.
“The fact that an MP thinks it is acceptable to make such Islamophobic comments against anybody, let alone the Mayor of London, I think is despicable.
“I think the Conservative Party should be investigating what, I think, is clearly structural Islamophobia within that party.”
Mr Yousaf, who is the first Muslim person to lead a country in Western Europe, also said that he thinks Mr Anderson should have been expelled from the Tory Party and not just suspended.
Anderson ‘brings a lot to the Conservative Party,’ says Tory MP
Tory MP Jonathan Gullis has said that Lee Anderson “brings a lot to the Conservative Party, and I hope that we will see him return to that party sooner rather than later”.
He told Times Radio: “I’ve been an RE teacher for all my professional life before Parliament, and I have a very strong Pakistani-Kashmiri community, predominantly who are Muslims.
“The overwhelming majority of them are law-abiding, hard-working, decent people, and Islam is a religion of peace, let’s not forget that.
“But like any religion, there are always extremist elements, and sadly that extremist element is allowed on to the streets of our capital.
“It would be bizarre to deny the fact that there is an extremist element […] who are using the Gaza conflict as a way to intimidate and to push their cause.”
Opinion: MPs know exactly what they’re doing when they make Islamophobic remarks
On 18 February, late on a Sunday evening, a brick was reportedly thrown through the front window of a Muslim home in Blackburn, before a whole pig’s head was hurled inside. The consumption of pork is forbidden in Islam and there is a long history of it being weaponised in order to intimidate, humiliate or harm Muslims. The family were understandably distressed by the incident and police are treating it as a hate crime.
This wasn’t an isolated event. According to Tell Mama, a prominent charity that monitors anti Muslim hate crime, Islamophobia has surged in the UK, with reported instances more than tripling in the four months since the 7 October attack by Hamas.
Muslim women, especially, have been affected; targeted in almost two thirds of cases. This could possibly be because garments such as a hijab, niqab or abaya worn by some women make them more easily identifiable as Muslim, or because cowards think of them as “softer” targets. Whatever the reasons might be, there is no denying that women “have borne the majority of the brunt of anti-Muslim hate during this time”, as Tell Mama points out.
While the rhetoric surrounding the war in Gaza might have exacerbated matters, Islamophobia in Britain is by no means a new phenomenon.
It is more than a decade since the former chair of the Conservative Party, Baroness Warsi, famously warned that anti-Muslim prejudice had “passed the dinner table test” and become socially acceptable in British society.
That should have been a pivotal moment prompting the Government to step up to address the fears of the Muslim community and tackle the problem. Instead, in the years since, things have got considerably worse.
Read more from journalist and political commentator Mohammad Zaheer here.
Labour MP says she needed extra police support following ‘hate peddled’ by Anderson and others
A Labour former minister told MPs she had to seek extra police support over the weekend due to receiving far-right abuse following “racist, Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate” she said had been partly encouraged by Lee Anderson, Suella Braverman and Liz Truss.
Dawn Butler called for Ms Braverman and Ms Truss to lose the Conservative whip, which happened to Mr Anderson on Saturday.
Speaking in the Commons, the MP for Brent Central said: “I have had to seek extra police support this weekend due to the far-right abuse that I have suffered inspired and unleashed in part by the conspiracy theory, the racist, Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate peddled by members for Ashfield (Lee Anderson), Fareham (Suella Braverman) and South West Norfolk (Liz Truss).”
She added: “Does the minster agree that there is no place in this House or society for such divisive language? One member has had the whip removed, does the minister agree that other members should have the whip removed or does the minister agree with those points made?”
Home Office minister Chris Philp replied: “I think this House as a whole should be clear that hatred based on religion or based on race has no part at all in a civilised country. Whether that’s directed towards members of the Jewish community, who have suffered a surge in antisemitism, or… hatred directed towards the Muslim community.
“This party on this side is prepared to act extremely quickly and did so at the weekend, a great deal faster than the party opposite when they had an issue in Rochdale.”
Minister refuses to call Anderson’s comments Islamophobic
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has told MPs in the House of Commons: “Last week [charity] Tell Mama reported that anti-Muslim hate incidents have trebled. It follows recent reports antisemitic incidents have reached a record high.
“We must all challenge all forms of threat, prejudice, racism and hate.
“So when ministers heard the words from the former deputy chair of the Conservative Party, of a Muslim mayor, saying that his mates are Islamist extremists and that he has been taken over by Islamists, is any Home Office minister prepared to stand up and say that not only were those words about the London mayor wrong, but they believe that they were Islamophobic and should be condemned as such?”
Security minister Tom Tugendhat responded: “Within 24 hours of those words being used, this PM took immediate action in removing the whip from that individual.
“If only all leaders of all political parties were as quick in removing the whip from those who spread hatred in our community.”
Ms Cooper replied that she was “sorry” that the minister “chose not to respond to the question that I asked”.
“Rightly, on all sides of the House, we have called out and condemned antisemitism, and must continue to do so. But if Government ministers cannot openly challenge Islamophobia, they play into the hands of extremists, both far-right and Islamist.
“If the Government took any of this seriously, they wouldn’t have just ditched plans for a new hate crime strategy, or left it nine years to update the countering extremism strategy.”
Opinion: The Tories’ love affair with Trump-style politics is just getting started
Adam Kinzinger used to be a mainstream Republican. He is an evangelical Christian and former US Air Force colonel who served as a pilot in conflict zones before becoming a congressman. But he broke with the party after the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, incited by ousted president Donald Trump with lies about voter fraud.
Now he finds himself in the political wilderness as a patriot disturbed by his party’s slide into populism, disgusted by pandering on the right to Vladimir Putin, dismayed at seeing former colleagues and friends in politics selling their souls for power – and fearing for the future of democracy in his country.
Kinzinger is among star turns at a “Principles First” summit in Washington trying to seize back the conservative agenda from the fantasists and populists. It is timed to coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference (Cpac), which he calls “the clown show of conservatism” that once featured “some weird people” but “now those weird people are the entire Republican party”.
Cpac provided a platform to conspiracy theorists, election deniers, extremists and hate-mongers, sprinkled with some of the shameless opportunists competing to become Trump’s running mate. “Welcome to the end of democracy,” declared one far-right speaker. “We’re here to overthrow it completely.”
No surprise to see Nigel Farage, slippery architect of the Brexit disaster, sitting in such tawdry company among the Maga crowd.
Read more here.
Anderson’s comments have ‘poured petrol on fire’ of Islamophobia, says Khan
London mayor Sadiq Khan has published an article in the Evening Standard decrying Lee Anderson’s “vile racist, anti-Muslim and Islamophobic remarks,” and the fact that Rishi Sunak is yet to “call it what it is”.
Mr Khan writes: “Remarkably, Rishi Sunak released a statement yesterday on hatred in politics, but failed to mention anti-Muslim sentiment at all.”
“It shouldn’t be hard to call out comments that are so unambiguously ignorant, prejudiced and racist,” he said, adding that the fact that the Conservative Party is not calling the remarks Islamophobic is a “tacit endorsement” of this type of prejudice that can “only lead to the concludion that anti-Muslim bigotry and racism are not taken seriously”.
He stressed that: “There can be no hierarchy” of racism, and that Mr Anderson’s comments have “poured petrol on the fire” of Islamophobia, which has spiked in recent months.
Mr Khan also said that this is “not a one-off incident,” but a “pattern of behaviour” from the Tory Party, making reference to Boris Johnson’s comparing women wearing burqas to letterboxes and bank robbers and Suella Braverman’s recent op-ed in the Telegraph.
“But what we are seeing is more than a hierarchy of racism. It’s a deliberate, dangerous political strategy — a strategy to weaponise anti-Muslim prejudice for electoral gain,” he added.
He said that this is making “communities across London and Britain feel insecure and afraid,” and called on the Tories not only to accept “the cross-party definition of Islamophobia,” but also to make sure it is “no longer used as a political tool”.
Recap: What did Lee Anderson say and what happened next?
Lee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative party after refusing to apologise for comments he made claiming “Islamists” have “got control” of Sadiq Khan.
The former Tory deputy chairman said on GB News on Friday that Mr Khan had “given our capital city away to his mates”, with the London mayor describing the comments as “pouring fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.
Mr Anderson’s comments were met with outrage and labeled racist and Islamophobic by many in the Labour party with some senior Tories such as Paul Scully and Sajid Javid also calling the claims “foolish”, “dangerous” and “ridiculous”.
Labour wrote to Mr Sunak asking for Mr Anderson have the whip withdrawn – which was later announced on Saturday.
Keep reading here.
Sunak ‘lacks the backbone’ to call out ‘Islamophobia,’ says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer said Rishi Sunak “lacks the backbone” to call out “Islamophobia” after Lee Anderson’s attack on Sadiq Khan.
Speaking to reporters in Shrewsbury, the Labour leader said: “I think this is straightforward. It’s Islamophobia and the Prime Minister should call it out for what it is.
“The reason he won’t is because he is so weak. They are divided, chaotic and if they are re-elected we are going to have five more years of this.”
He added: “This is really basic. Islamophobia is something which should be called out by every political leader, and the Prime Minister isn’t calling it out because he’s too weak.
“I don’t think anyone can make any excuses for this Prime Minister and say it’s all too difficult.
“It’s very straightforward, he lacks the backbone to call this out for what it is because he’s leading a divided party, a chaotic party and it’s no wonder people have just had enough of this after 14 years, and desperately want change.”
Sunak repeatedly refuses to call Anderson’s comments Islamophobic
Rishi Sunak has refused to describe Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan as Islamophobic when pressed repeatedly.
Speaking to broadcasters during a visit to East Yorkshire, the Prime Minister said: “I’ve been very clear that what he said was wrong, it was unacceptable, and that’s why we suspended the whip.
“And it’s important that everybody, but particularly elected politicians, are careful with their words and do not inflame tensions.”
Asked again whether the remarks were Islamophobic, he said: “Well, I think the most important thing is that the words were wrong, they were ill judged, they were unacceptable. And that’s what I believe and that’s why the whip has been suspended.”
Sunak declines to criticise Braverman for claiming ‘Islamists are in charge now’
Rishi Sunak declined to criticise former home secretary Suella Braverman, who claimed “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in charge now”.
The Prime Minister said: “I think that those comments were not about an individual in particular.
“There is a broader point that some of the scenes that we have been witnessing on our streets in recent times are unacceptable.
“And we’re now having a situation where, whether it’s private MPs’ meetings, council meetings, or indeed what happened to in Parliament last week, where the normal democratic processes that we are used to in this country are being impacted, threatened, disrupted aggressively and in an intimidating fashion.
“I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think anyone thinks that that’s right. And I think it’s important that we call out that kind of behaviour as wrong and that we do everything we can to stamp it out.”
Reform UK leader does not rule out opening door to Anderson after his suspension from Tory party
Lee Anderson, a standard bearer for the Tory right, will now sit as an independent unless he defects to another party that chooses to offer him its backing.
Reform UK leader Richard Tice did not rule out opening the door to Mr Anderson after his suspension.
In a statement, he said: “Lee Anderson may have been clumsy in his precise choice of words, but his sentiments are supported by millions of British citizens, including myself. Never has Westminster and the craven left-leaning establishment been so out of touch with ordinary people.
“I do not and will not give a running commentary on any discussions I have with any MPs, but those MPs have my number.”
Anderson’s comments were Islamophobic, says former Tory MEP Sajjad Karim, as he calls on Sunak to show ‘leadership’
Sajjad Karim, who was a Conservative MEP and also served as the vice-president of the European Parliament’s Anti-racism and Diversity Intergroup, has said that Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan come at a “far from satisfactory” time.
He told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “We have a particular situation globally at the moment, and certainly within the UK, which at times is very fragile.
“So, to be making comments of this sort, in this particular way, at this particular time, is not what one would expect from a Member of Parliament from the governing party, and certainly [not] from a former senior office holder.”
He said that to his mind, the comments were Islamophobic, “because you have a situation here where Mr Anderson is actually repeating the type of language and the type of thoughts that he has expressed in the past, and he’s doing it at a time when we’re moving into an election cycle.
“I believe it is irresponsible; it’s not in the interests of the Conservative Party, and it’s certainly not in the interests of the country as a whole.”
He said that “there are parts of the Conservative Party that would like to carry out an election campaign that chooses to highlight issues which raise division rather than concentrate on policy.
“This is where – at this moment in time – the Prime Minister should be showing great leadership on this issue to make sure that those divisions are not allowed to become embedded within the Conservative Party.”
Asked if Rishi Sunak should have described Mr Anderson’s comments as Islamophobic, he said: “Yes. I have been one of those who, whilst I was able to within the Conservative Party […] campaigned for the recognition of Islamophobia as a form of discrimination itself.
“The Conservative Party refuses to recognise it as an identifiable form of discrimination in itself, and it’s never been Government policy and therefore it has never been the country’s position in terms of legislative application.”
Lee Anderson’s statement today in full
Lee Anderson has admitted his words were “clumsy”, but doubled down on his criticism of London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
In a statement released via GB News on Monday, the former Tory deputy chairman said: “If you are wrong, apologising is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.
“But when you think you are right you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness.”
He said he had made comments “that some people thought were divisive”.
“Politics is divisive and I am just incredibly frustrated about the abject failures of the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.”
He also said: “My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city.”
In a fresh attack on Mr Khan, Mr Anderson accused the London Mayor of “double standards for political benefit”.
The now-independent Ashfield MP said Mr Khan had called for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war “weeks ago with no conditions while the hostages are still there being held at gunpoint by a terrorist organisation”.
“Hundreds of people had been arrested for racist abuse on these marches and we barely hear a peep from the mayor. If these marches were about something less fashionable, Sadiq Khan would have been the first to call for them to be cancelled. It’s double standards for political benefit.”
In a statement released via GB News, where he presents a weekly show, he continued: “Khan has stood by and allowed our police to turn a blind eye to the disgusting scenes around Parliament. It is not my intention to upset anyone, I believe in free speech and have 100 per cent respect for people of all backgrounds.”
He concluded: “We’ve got to get Khan out at the elections in May.”
Tory MP defends Liz Truss for not reacting to Tommy Robinson being called a ‘hero’
Conservative MP Rachel Maclean has defended former prime minister Liz Truss for not confronting former Trump strategist Steve Bannon when he said during an interview with her that anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson was a “hero”.
The Conservative Party has faced calls to suspend the whip from Ms Truss following the incident at the Conservative Political Action Conference in the US.
Ms Maclean said that expecting Ms Truss to stop Bannon and criticise his language while he was in the middle of a sentence is “holding her to impossibly high standards”.
“I don’t know whether Liz heard what was said; I don’t know whether she was aware what was said; I don’t know what the context was,” she told BBC Politics Live.
“I think if you’re now suggesting that anyone who’s in a room with someone making an unacceptable comment, if they don’t call that out they’re somehow ‘bad’, to me this seems to be a degree further than most people would accept people should do.”
Labour MP Luke Pollard argued that that was “precisely” the “attack” levelled at Labour as it was urged to immediately suspend all of the politicians present at the meeting where Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali suggested that Israel had known about and allowed the 7 October Hamas attack.
The party came under pressure to oust any Labour candidate or official who was at that event and did not call Mr Ali out for what he said.
Mr Pollard added: “You’ve got to call out hate. Anyone in a leadership position […] to hear the words that Tommy Robinson is a hero and to sit there and not correct [Mr Bannon is] outrageous.”
Tory MP declines to comment on peer’s claim Anderson’s ‘attack’ on Khan was ‘very deliberate’
Tory MP Rachel Maclean has been asked to respond to Conservative peer Baroness Warsi’s statement that Lee Anderson’s “attack” on Sadiq Khan was “very deliberate,” and “an attempt to stigmatise, stereotype and silence British Muslims”.
Ms Maclean told BBC Politics Live: “People have a lot of different views about this and Sayeeda herself has often criticised the party.
“Of course, she is a member of the party and we are very proud to have people from all different backgrounds in our own party. And we do need to be careful about language and the words we use.”
She did not comment directly on the claims made by Lady Warsi.
Downing Street refuses to back all-party parliamentary group definition of Islamophobia
Downing Street reiterated the Government’s position of refusing to back the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on British Muslims’ 2019 definition of Islamophobia.
After Lee Anderson’s comments put a spotlight on the row over the classification of Islamophobia, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters on Monday: “As the Government has stated previously, there are issues in relation to the APPG’s definition of Islamophobia, which conflates race with religion, does not address sectarianism within Islam, and may unintentionally undermine freedom of speech.
“But as I’ve said, we have always been clear that this Government does not and will not tolerate anti-Muslim hatred.”
He added: “More broadly in terms of any racism, any prejudice in relation to Islam, the Government clearly does not tolerate anti-Muslim hatred in that respect and will always seek to combat it, wherever it occurs.”