Category Archives: Lee Anderson

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

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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.”

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

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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.”

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

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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.”

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.

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.”

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The Lee Anderson Latest Has Gone Full Alan Partridge

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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.

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.

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

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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”.

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

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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.”

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

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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.”

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”.

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.

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

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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.”

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 Islamophobia 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”.

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.

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.

The former PM claimed the Financial Times newspaper was “friends of the deep state” which had conspired to end her time in Downing Street after just 49 days.

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

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

Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow paymaster general, wrote to Sunak demanding he remove the Tory whip from both Truss and Anderson.

He said: “Sunak has a clear choice: show some backbone and withdraw the whip or be forever known as too weak to take them on.”

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

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Lee Anderson And Brendan Clarke-Smith Quit As Tory Deputy Chairmen

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Lee Anderson and Brendan Clarke-Smith have quit as Tory deputy chairmen to rebel over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill.

The move came just minutes before the pair joined around 60 Conservative MPs in backing amendments aimed at toughening up the flagship legislation.

An amendment tabled by veteran Conservative backbencher Bill Cash, which would have allowed the government to defy international law, was defeated by 529 votes to 68.

A second amendment in the name of former immigration minister Robert Jenrick, which would have made it harder for those facing deportation to appeal, was also defeated by 525 votes to 58.

If only half the Tory rebels vote with the opposition parties against the full bill when it comes back to the Commons tomorrow, it will be killed and Sunak’s premiership will be in tatters.

Anderson, the controversial MP for Ashfield, was appointed deputy chairman in February last year.

Fellow Red Wall MP Clarke-Smith only took up the post two months ago.

In a joint resignation letter to the PM, they said: “We commend your work on illegal immigration so far and your commitment to implementing the will of the British people.

“The last thing either of us wants to do is to distract from this.”

However, they suggested that despite their support for the rebel amendments aimed a strengthening the bill, they will still vote for the legislation in its entirety when it comes back to the Commons tomorrow.

Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Alistair Carmichael said: “Sunak’s Rwanda scheme just won’t work – and even the deputy chairmen of his own party know it.

“Rishi Sunak has yet again been embarrassed by his own MPs.

“If the prime minister can’t even settle squabbles in his own party, how can he be expected to run the country?”

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‘We Have Failed’: Lee Anderson Admits Tory Government Migration Chaos

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Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson has admitted his party has “failed” to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats, despite Rishi Sunak’s pledge to end the journeys.

He said the situation was now “out of control” and that the Conservative government was to blame.

Anderson’s comments, in an interview with Nigel Farage on GB News, followed the row over his claim that migrants who do not want to board the Bibby Stockholm barge in Dorset should “fuck off back to France”.

He said: “I’m not going to sit here and make excuses to anyone. This is out of control.

“We’re in power at the moment, I’m the deputy chair of the Conservative Party, we’re in government and we have failed on this – there’s no doubt about it.

“We’ve said we’re going to fix it, it is a failure.”

Anderson insisted the Tories had policies in place to tackle the issue, but he added: “I know it’s a bit hard for the British public at the moment to actually understand what we’re trying to do with the Rwanda flights and the Illegal Migration Bill and it seems very slow, it’s cumbersome.

“We’re up against it Nigel, let’s be honest. We’ve got the lefty lawyers, we’ve got the human rights campaigners, we’ve got the charities – everything’s against us, but I’m not making excuses.”

His comments are a further blow to Sunak in a week that was meant to showcase the government’s attempts to stop the boats.

Instead, they have been forced to deny plans to deport migrants to Ascension Island, while they also face legal challenges over the Bibby Stockholm, which has been dubbed a “quasi-prison” by opponents.

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