RISHI Sunak has failed to address the suspension of a Tory MP accused of “Islamophobia” despite warning about an “explosion of prejudice” in politics.
On Saturday, former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party Lee Anderson had the whip removed after refusing to apologise for comments he made about the Mayor of London on GB News.
During an interview on the right-wing channel Anderson claimed that Sadiq Khan was “controlled by Islamists”
“I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country,” he said.
“But what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London. He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”
READ MORE: Lee Anderson has Tory whip suspended over Islamist comments
The comments were widely condemned, including by senior figures in his own party.
Business minister and Tory MP Nus Ghani claimed to have spoken to Anderson about the comments and called his behaviour “both foolish and dangerous”.
While Keir Starmer said the outburst was “Islamophobic”.
A spokesperson for chief whip Simon Hart then announced that Anderson had been suspended “following his refusal to apologise”.
Yet despite warning of an “explosion in prejudice and antisemitism” in UK politics over recent weeks in a statement on Saturday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak failed to address Anderson’s suspension.
READ MORE: Stirling Uni student detained by Home Office 'blocked from graduating'
“The events of recent weeks are but the latest in an emerging pattern which should not be tolerated,” he said.
He added that legitimate protests relating to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza had been “hijacked by extremists” and that politicians had been “verbally threated and physically, violently targeted”.
Sunak is also facing calls to remove the party whip from ex-prime minister Liz Truss following her appearance on former Donald Trump advisor Steve Bannon’s podcast.
Truss failed to challenge Bannon after he described far-right activist Tommy Robinson as a “hero”.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel