Lee Anderson Advises Critics To ‘Just Scroll By’ Zia Yusuf’s Online Posts

Posted on 24/08/2026 by Boris Clair

Lee Anderson has advised critics to “scroll by” Zia Yusuf’s social media posts amid heightened scrutiny over Reform UK.

Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, attracted backlash earlier this month when he called former defence secretary Ben Wallace a “traitor” to Britain.

Before he was suspended by Reform, party member Tim Montgomerie claimed Yusuf “consistently freelanced on Twitter” and “behaves like a child”.

Asked about the criticism surrounding Yusuf at a press conference, Reform’s chief whip Anderson defended his colleague.

He said: “I think Zia is probably one of our best communicators in Reform UK, very popular with the membership and a little bit of advice to anybody: If you don’t like what Zia says, then just scroll by. It’s really simple.”

He added: “If you don’t like what any of us have to say on social media, you don’t have to follow us. You don’t have to read our comments. Just scroll on by and go and listen to somebody else.”

Deputy leader Richard Tice also shrugged off the scrutiny around Yusuf, insisting the unelected politician is “passionate”.

He told reporters: “We’re all passionate; Zia is passionate.

“And we all, frankly, are furious at how the previous Conservative government let us all down because they said they were going to reduce immigration numbers. They didn’t. They opened the doors, they allowed the ‘Boriswave’.

“So, Zia is on great form. We’re on great form. We’re looking forward to conference. And as I tweeted out a couple of days ago, I think the summer heat may have got to a few journalists.”

Yusuf himself later took issue with reporters at the right-wing outlet Guido Fawkes after the site reported that Anderson had told people to scroll past his social media posts.

He wrote on X: “The Tory Labour establishment is terrified of my social media platform.

“My accounts do over 200 million organic views a month. Which is why establishment media is hell bent on trying to censor me.”

He added: “Remember, the things the establishment media write about Reform are not only lies, they are the *opposite* of the truth.”

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Bridget Phillipson Brutally Slaps Down Lee Anderson In Angry Commons Clash

Posted on 22/04/2025 by Boris Clair

Bridget Phillipson brutally slapped down Lee Anderson as the pair clashed angrily in the House of Commons.

The Reform UK MP infuriated the education secretary during a debate on last week’s Supreme Court ruling that sex is defined by biology.

Anderson asked Phillipson: “I don’t need a Supreme Court judgment or ruling to tell me that a bloke shouldn’t be in a women’s changing rooms.

“I want to ask the secretary of state a very simple question for more clarity: can a woman have a penis?”

The minister replied: “I’ll tell you what, blokes shouldn’t beat up women. Maybe he should have a word with his colleague.”

That was a reference to another Reform UK MP, James McMurdock, who was jailed 19 years ago for repeatedly kicking his girlfriend, according to court documents.

He spent 21 days in a young offenders’ institution after admitting the attack.

The MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, who was elected last July, told Sky News last year: “Nearly 20 years ago, at 19 years of age, at the end of a night out together, we argued and I pushed her. She fell over and she was hurt. Despite being 38 now and having lived a whole life again I still feel deeply ashamed and apologetic.

“Despite us both being very drunk, I handed myself into the police immediately and admitted my fault. I was charged for what I did, not for what has been claimed, and I faced the consequences then and paid for my action in full.”

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Lee Anderson(Reform MP): Can a woman have a penis?

Bridget Phillipson: \"I’ll tell you what, blokes shouldn’t beat up women, maybe he should have a word with his colleague.\" pic.twitter.com/Xs2W6rWRE8

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) April 22, 2025

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Lee Anderson(Reform MP): Can a woman have a penis?

Bridget Phillipson: “I’ll tell you what, blokes shouldn’t beat up women, maybe he should have a word with his colleague.” pic.twitter.com/Xs2W6rWRE8

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) April 22, 2025

Phillipson had also raised the incident during an earlier exchange with Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice.

He said: “Now we have got confirmation from the Supreme Court what the definition of a woman is, could the secretary of state confirm that all public sector and private sector bodies will apply that definition with immediate effect?”

Phillipson replied: “The Equality and Human Rights Commission will set out a statutory code of practice that will provide further clarity.

“But I would just say to [Mr Tice] that I will take no lectures from his party about the importance of defending women’s rights, given that one of his own number, that sits on those benches, was convicted and went to prison for assaulting his former partner.”

Nigel Farage last year described Mr McMurdock as “good example to young tearaways” who “picked himself up from a terrible situation and made a big success”.

Reform’s Lee Anderson Applauds Police Involved In Shocking Manchester Airport Arrest Video

Posted on 25/07/2024 by Boris Clair

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has said he would give the police involved in the kicking incident in Manchester “a medal”.

A video of an officer stamping on a man’s face and kicking him in the head during an arrest at Manchester airport has gone viral, and sparked a backlash against the force.

The police force has now referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and the officer involved has been suspended from all duties after a “thorough review of further information”.

The man in question, named as “Fahir”, was later found to have a cyst on his brain in a CT scan after the incident.

Former Met chief superintendent Dal Babu has described the event as “totally appalling”.

Speaking before the CT scan, Anderson claimed: “The message I am getting loud and clear from my constituents is they are fed up with seeing police dancing around rainbows and being nice to people and running off from rioters.

“They want police to do their job, and I think these police yesterday should be commended.

“In fact, I’d give them a medal.”

Foreign office minister, Baroness Chapman, responded to Anderson’s remarks on Politics Live by saying: “I think Lee’s completely wrong to rush to a conclusion like that, not in full possession of all the facts.”

She added that “it’s a very sensitive situation” and many facts remain unclear.

Chapman said she would “caution colleagues against jumping in and reaching conclusions”, and claimed: “I don’t think it’s right for politicians to go around grandstanding and trying to make political capital out of this.”

But Anderson doubled down on his remarks on social media and lashed out at the BBC over the clip.

He wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “The Biased Beeb.

“Hardly heard anything from them about the female officer who had her nose broke or the officers taken to hospital.

“I will back our police and said this earlier to the BBC. Brace yourself for the nonsense in the studio.”

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The Biased Beeb.

Hardly heard anything from them about the female officer who had her nose broke or the officers taken to hospital. I will back our police and said this earlier to the BBC. Brace yourself for the nonsense in the studio. pic.twitter.com/wMpitKbaKM

— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) July 25, 2024

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The Biased Beeb.

Hardly heard anything from them about the female officer who had her nose broke or the officers taken to hospital. I will back our police and said this earlier to the BBC. Brace yourself for the nonsense in the studio. pic.twitter.com/wMpitKbaKM

— Lee Anderson MP (@LeeAndersonMP_) July 25, 2024

Lee Anderson Used To Think That MPs Who Defect Should Face Being Kicked Out Of Parliament

Posted on 11/03/2024 by Boris Clair

Lee Anderson used to believe that MPs who defect to other parties should face being kicked out of parliament, it has emerged.

The former Tory deputy chairman announced this morning that he was switching to Reform UK.

Asked whether he would now call a by-election in his Ashfield seat, both Anderson and Reform UK leader Richard Tice said there was no need because the general election will take place soon.

But in 2020, Anderson backed a private members’ bill calling for MPs who change parties to face a recall petition so their constituents could decide whether they should be forced to trigger a by-election.

The Recall of MPs (Change of Party Affiliation) Bill was debated by the Commons on September 2 that year.

Its proposer, Anthony Mangnall, said changing parties “is clearly a breach of the spirit of the contract between ourselves and our constituents”.

He added: “Parties are often more visible than the candidate, from their leaders to their cabinets and their manifestos. They act as a magnet to either attract or repel voters to or from to their cause.

“So when a candidate who has campaigned using those logos, promoting that manifesto and supporting that leader switches sides, they are doing so against everything they told the thousands of voters they connected with during the election. This is not promoting democracy; it is degrading it.”

Anderson was one of 55 MPs who voted for the bill, which has not made it to the statute book.

But despite his previous stance, Anderson – who lost the Tory whip last month over comments he made about Sadiq Khan – today said he was switching sides because “I want my country back”.

He has already been removed from all Tory MP WhatsApp groups, and faced criticism from some of his former colleagues in the party.

However, Conservative backbencher Mark Pritchard told Sky News that “the door will always be left open” for Anderson is he wants to return.

He said: “Lee will always be welcome in the Conservative Party if he decides to come back.”

Rishi Sunak Addressed The Nation Outside No.10 – And Said Very Little

Posted on 01/03/2024 by Boris Clair

Rishi Sunak has used a “lectern speech” outside the doors of No.10 Downing Street to condemn extremists “trying to tear us apart” – but offered little by way of a policy solution.

Westminster was buzzing as the prime minister announced he would make an unexpected Friday night address – with the prospect he was about to call a general election swiftly ruled out.

Instead, Sunak’s addressed the nation on tackling the unrest in Britain in the aftermath of the October 7 attacks by Hamas against Israel – a situation the PM had likened to “mob rule” in a statement earlier in the week.

Against the backdrop of the No.10 front door, Sunak warned “our democracy itself is a target” for extremists.

He continued: “In recent weeks and months, we have seen a shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality.

“What started as protests on our streets have descended into intimidation, threats and planned acts of violence.

“Jewish children, fearful to wear their school uniform lest it reveals their identity. Muslim women abused in the street for the actions of a terrorist group they have no connection with.

“Now our democracy itself is a target. Council meetings and local events have been stormed. MPs do not feel safe in their homes. Long-standing parliamentary conventions have been upended because of safety concerns.

“And it’s beyond alarming that last night, the Rochdale by-election returned a candidate that dismisses the horror of what happened on October 7, who glorifies Hezbollah and is endorsed by Nick Griffin, the racist former leader of the BNP.”

The latter part of the statement alludes to the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale by-election.

Sunak was vague, however, on how his government would take action to deal with the problem, alluding only to a “new robust framework” to tackle the “root causes” of extremism and “asking more of the police”.

The speech came at the end of another rancorous week for British politics.

On Wednesday, Sunak claimed that there is a “growing consensus that mob rule is replacing democratic rule” in the UK, but Downing Street failed to provide any evidence for the extraordinary allegation.

In another controversy, Lee Anderson, the former Tory party chairman, claimed policing of the largely peaceful demonstrations showed that “Islamists” had “control” over London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim. Anderson had the Tory whip removed last weekend after he chose not to apologise for the comments, and spent this week rowing back from his original “little bit of contrition”.

On Friday, Galloway, the former Labour MP, claimed a stunning victory in the Rochdale by-election on the back of a pro-Palestine ticket and a disastrous Labour campaign that saw the party drop support for their candidate after he made comments branded anti-Semitic.

Following the speech, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said: “The British people will take no lessons from a prime minister and Conservative party who have sowed the seeds of division for years.

“This is the same prime minister who made Suella Braverman his home secretary and Lee Anderson his party’s deputy chairman.

“If the prime minister is serious about bringing people together, he would call a general election now, so that the British public can decide the future of our country.”

Margaret Hodge Tears Into ‘Patronising’ Reform UK’s Richard Tice

Posted on 29/02/2024 by Boris Clair

Labour’s Margaret Hodge has clashed with Reform UK’s Richard Tice during a heated exchange in the aftermath of the Lee Anderson Islamophobia row.

On Sky News, the veteran MP and the leader of the former Brexit Party had awkward exchanges over Reform UK’s apparent increasing influence.

The party has received more media coverage in recent weeks following its third place finishes in the Wellingborough and Kingswood by-elections – potentially splitting the Tory vote in future elections – and speculation over the possible defection of Anderson, who was suspended from the Tory parliamentary party after he refused to apologise for saying “Islamists” had “got control of (London mayor Sadiq) Khan and they’ve got control of London”.

The TV exchange got off to an uncomfortable start, with Hodge asking Tice not to “interrupt” her: “Let me put the argument and then I’ll give you plenty of time to respond.”

The former minister then took to task the argument that Reform UK is having an increasing influence on Westminster, pointing out that getting around 10% of the vote in by-elections pales compared to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in the 1980s: “I think the SDP were picking up much more. They were up at 23%. They never got a seat.”

She went on: “Your great, glorious president, whatever you would call him, he’s had more elections than I’ve had hot dinners and he’s managed to lose every single one.”

Margaret Hodge tears into Richard Tice(Reform UK);

“Don’t interrupt me… you came 3rd in the one election you stood in… & your great, glorious president or whatever you call him, he’s had more elections than I’ve had hot dinners, & lost every single one.. you’re no threat.” pic.twitter.com/IwQfBv2Fp7

— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK) February 28, 2024

They also clashed over Reform UK’s so-called “contract with you”, in effect a draft manifesto. Tice told Hodge “you clearly haven’t read the contract properly” and “you clearly don’t understand it”, which led to Hodge describing her opponent as “patronising” – and unleashing another attack.

Hello? Police? I’d like to report a murder.

Maybe trying to tell @margarethodge, a woman with 50 years political experience, minister for a decade, then chair of the Public Accounts C’tee, that she can’t read properly and doesn’t understand finance was not the best strategy. ~AA pic.twitter.com/T3ax6QzfbQ

— Best for Britain (@BestForBritain) February 28, 2024

They also went back-and-forth over policing of pro-Palestine protests, with Hodge accusing Tice of being “bloody patronising”.

She added: “Honestly, you really are. I feel a misogynist attack on me in the way (you say) ‘you’re so ill-informed. You don’t know what you’re talking about’. I find that really offensive.”

The Lee Anderson Latest Has Gone Full Alan Partridge

Posted on 27/02/2024 by Boris Clair

The Lee Anderson saga that has dominated British politics in recent days has taken an unlikely twist.

Anderson had the Tory whip removed over the weekend after he chose not to apologise for saying “Islamists” had “control” over London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim.

The incident has escalated into a major row over how the government has handled the issue involving the former Conservative deputy chairman, and raised questions about whether Anderson might defect to Reform UK, formerly known as the Brexit Party.

On Tuesday, GB News reported Anderson has held private one-to-one talks with Richard Tice, leader of Reform UK.

BREAKING on @GBNEWS now,
Former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson held private ‘one to one’ talks with Richard Tice, the leader of the Reform UK party, at a Holiday Inn hotel, at junction 28 of the M1 in South Normanton, Derbyshire on Sunday, 24 hours after he lost the Tory whip.

— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) February 27, 2024

GB News political editor, Christopher Hope, reported the summit took place “at a Holiday Inn hotel, at junction 28 of the M1 in South Normanton, Derbyshire on Sunday, 24 hours after he lost the Tory whip”.

The detailled location had many people on X thinking the same thing – specifically, they recalled the I’m Alan Partridge series set at The Linton Travel Tavern, where Steve Coogan’s character is faced with celebrity purgatory as he pleads for his talk show to be renewed while living “equidistant between Norwich and London”.

Earlier, Anderson said prime minister Rishi Sunak made a “mistake” in stripping him of the Conservative whip when speaking to Channel 5 News.

On Monday, pressed during a GB News interview on whether he would join Reform UK, Anderson declined to comment but said he had “been on a political journey”.

He said: “You’ll say Lee Anderson rules out/doesn’t rule out joining the Reform party, so I’m making no comment on my future.”

GB News pays Anderson a £100,000 salary, on top of his £86,584 MP pay, to present a show on its network.

Lee Anderson Says He Won’t Apologise To Sadiq Khan ‘While I’ve Got A Breath In My Body’

Posted on 27/02/2024 by Boris Clair

Lee Anderson is unrepentant about comments branded as Islamophobic that led to him being suspended from the Conservative parliamentary party.

Last week, the Tory party’s former deputy chairman said London mayor Sadiq Khan has “given our capital city away to his mates”, and “Islamists” had “got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London”, referring to pro-Palestine protests in the capital in recent weeks.

The party whip was removed from Anderson after he made the comments on Friday – but Rishi Sunak has since insisted that while his words were “wrong”, Anderson is not “a racist person or an Islamophobic person”.

In an interview with GB News broadcast on Monday, Anderson admitted his language was “clumsy” – but remained fully behind the sentiment.

He told the broadcaster: “I think the party could have given me a little bit more backing, if I’m honest.

“You saw the statement that I produced on Saturday, which I was willing to go with. It’s shown a little bit of contrition in there, although I didn’t directly apologise to Mayor Khan, which I’m not going to, not while I’ve got a breath in my body because the comments I made weren’t racist at all.

“They keep bandying this word Islamophobia and nobody can explain what it really means.”

After being suspended, Anderson said in a statement: “Following a call with the chief whip, I understand the difficult position that I 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 antisemitism or Islamophobia.”

In the GB News interview, he also claimed to have had “lots of support in my WhatsApp, an amazing amount of support”.

When asked whether the support was all Tory MPs, he replied: “Yeah, there’s no Labour MPs.”

Writing in the Evening Standard newspaper, Khan said Anderson’s comments had “poured petrol on the fire” of hatred against Muslims.

He said some Conservatives were adopting “a deliberate, dangerous political strategy – a strategy to weaponise anti-Muslim prejudice for electoral gain”.

Lee Anderson Suspended By Tories After Refusing To Apologise For Sadiq Khan Comments

Posted on 24/02/2024 by Boris Clair

Lee Anderson has been suspended by the Tories after he refused to apologise for claiming Islamists have “got control of” Sadiq Khan.

The party’s former deputy chairman was stripped of the Conservative whip following a furious political backlash to his comments.

Appearing on GB News on Friday afternoon, Anderson said the London mayor, who is Muslim, had “given our capital city away to his mates”.

Khan described the remarks as “Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist”, while senior Tories also condemned them.

Conservative officials initially tried to defend Anderson, with a party source telling HuffPost UK he “was simply making the point that the mayor … has abjectly failed to get a grip on the appalling Islamist marches we have seen in London recently”.

But this afternoon, 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.”

The Ashfield MP later said he accepted the party “had no option” but to take the whip off him.

He 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.”

It is a dramatic fall from grace for Anderson, who was still one of the Tories’ deputy chairs last month.

He and party colleague Brendan Clarke-Smith quit so they could rebel over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill.

Just a week later, he said he should have voted for the bill and wanted his old job back.

Responding to the news that he had lost the Tory whip, Labour chair Anneliese Dodds 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.”

Dodds also repeated Labour’s call for Liz Truss to also lose the Tory whip over comments she made at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC.

The former prime minister claimed the Financial Times was “friends of the deep state”, which had worked to bring her time in Downing Street to an end.

Dodds said: “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.”

Lee Anderson Accused Of ‘Islamaphobia’ Over Attack On Sadiq Khan

Posted on 23/02/2024 by Boris Clair

Lee Anderson is at the centre of a racism row after he claimed Islamists have “got control of” Sadiq Khan.

The former Tory Party chairman provoked a furious backlash by saying the London mayor, who is Muslim, had “given our capital city away to his mates”.

His comments, on GB News, were apparently a reference to the pro-Palestine marches which have taken place in London since the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

They came after former home secretary Suella Braverman claimed that “Islamists” are now running the country.

Anderson said: “I don’t actually believe that these Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London.”

He added: “This stems with Khan. He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates … beware, because if you let Labour in through the back door, expect more of this and expect our cities to be taken over by these lunatics.”

Conservative MP Lee Anderson tells GB News that he thinks Sadiq Khan has “given our capital city away” to Islamists, who are “his mates”.

“Islamists have got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London,” he says. pic.twitter.com/XnGbXMyB2y

— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) February 23, 2024

Labour chairwoman Anneliese Dodds said: “Lee Anderson’s comments are unambiguously racist and Islamophobic. Rishi Sunak needs to immediately remove the whip. If he is too weak, then people will take their own view of the modern Conservative Party.”

A London Labour source: “This sort of vile Islamaphobia is exactly how the Tories campaigned against Sadiq Khan in 2016. Surely they will not tolerate it this time round?”

Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: These comments from a Conservative MP are despicable. Rishi Sunak should remove the Conservative whip. There should be no space for this in our country, let alone in parliament.”

Former Tory MP Gavin Barwell, who was also Theresa May’s chief of staff when she was prime minister, said Anderson’s comments were “a despicable slur”.

A despicable slur on @SadiqKhan and Londoners

In his first speech as PM, @RishiSunak said he would “unite our country”. If he allows the likes of Anderson to spread hate and division like this, those words will be revealed as a sham https://t.co/MreUDW0Nzg

— Gavin Barwell (@GavinBarwell) February 23, 2024

But a Conservative Party source defended Anderson’s comments.

He told HuffPost UK: “Lee was simply making the point that the mayor, in his capacity as police and crime commissioner for London, has abjectly failed to get a grip on the appalling Islamist marches we have seen in London recently.”

Those comments were then slammed by shadow health secretary Wes Streeting.

If I were this ‘Conservative source’ I’d be ashamed to put my name to these comments, too.

Let’s see how many Tory Ministers and MPs are willing to be complicit in this and how many are willing to stand up for decency in our democracy. https://t.co/IcXSlOQQn0

— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) February 23, 2024

The row came as Liz Truss was condemned over her appearance alongside former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon at a right-wing conference in America.

At one point, Bannon referred to far-right activist Tommy Robinson as a “hero”, but the former prime minister said nothing.

Sajid Javid, who served in several Tory cabinets alongside Truss, criticised her for not confronting Bannon.

A spokesman for Truss did not respond to a request for comment from HuffPost UK.

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