Lee Anderson suspended from Tory party after ‘racist’ Sadiq Khan rant

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Lee Anderson was put on hold from the Conservative Party following his GB News remarks about Sadiq Khan that were labeled "anti-Muslim."

Mr Anderson, who used to hold the position of deputy chairman of the party until just last month, has been subjected to a drastic downfall. As a result, he will no longer maintain his position as a Tory MP.

Mr Anderson has recently come under fire for an interview where he made comments that were widely condemned. He claimed that "Islamists" had taken control of Mr Khan. Despite this backlash, he has yet to offer an apology.

Lee Anderson, a politician from the Conservative Party, has had his party membership privileges temporarily stopped.

During his guesting on GB News, Mr. Anderson expressed his opinion by stating that he doesn't think that the Islamists have taken control of the entire nation. However, he believes that they have influenced London through Khan's leadership, and he accuses him of giving the city to his acquaintances.

When questioned about the remarks, Mr. Khan stated: "The statements made by a prominent member of the Conservative Party are discriminatory towards Islam, reflect prejudice against Muslims, and exhibit racial bias."

In addition, he is urging Rishi Sunak to remove Mr. Anderson from his position by exerting more pressure. He stated that racism is still racism, and he is not sure why Rishi Sunak and his cabinet members are not publicly denouncing or criticizing this behavior.

They appear to be indirectly involved in promoting racism, sending a message that Muslims can be targeted without repercussions. This is concerning, as statistics indicate a rise in hate crimes against Muslims in recent times. Mr. Khan believes that Mr. Anderson's remarks exacerbate the situation.

According to a representative of Simon Hart, who is the chief whip of the Tory party, they made the decision to take action due to the ex-Tory deputy chairman's unwillingness to say sorry for the comments that they made last Friday.

The prime minister was under increasing pressure to address the remarks made by the Ashfield MP.

The prime minister was under increasing pressure to do something about the remarks made by the Ashfield MP. Mr Khan spoke out about the deafening silence of Mr Sunak and his cabinet, saying it was like they were accepting racism.

Mr. Anderson was being supported by a Conservative representative as of Friday night. However, on Saturday, the party withdrew their support from him.

An individual speaking on behalf of Mr Hart has announced that due to Lee Anderson MP's refusal to apologise for his previous remarks, the Conservative whip has been suspended by the Chief Whip.

The Prime Minister is feeling pressure to withdraw support from his predecessor, Liz Truss, because she was interviewed by Steve Bannon. During the interview, she did not speak out while he praised Tommy Robinson, a controversial figure associated with far-right politics.

Former Chancellor Sajid Javid criticized Ms Truss for her statement and urged all MPs to address the issue directly. Sir Sajid further commented that Ms Truss should have had more knowledge on the topic. Additionally, Jonathan Ashworth of Labour expressed disappointment in Ms Truss for undermining the position of the Prime Minister in an unforgivable way.

Last Saturday morning, the cabinet member Grant Shapps seemingly distanced himself from Mr. Anderson's remarks. Nevertheless, he protected the backbencher's contentious right to express his thoughts.

Dawn Butler, a Labour MP with left-leaning views, and also the chair of the London Parliamentary Labour Party, has co-written a letter with other London Labour MPs to the UK's prime minister, urging him to take swift and decisive action in response to Mr Anderson's remarks.

According to Ms Butler, the remarks made were derogatory towards Islam and full of hatred, which will only add to the growing divide present in the society. She further added that Mr Anderson should be stripped of his status as a Conservative representative.

The Labour party urged the Conservatives to take practical steps to eradicate Islamophobia once and for all in response to the remarks. They called for tangible actions to be taken in order to address the issue seriously.

Labour's head, Anneliese Dodds, wrote a letter to Richard Holden, who chairs the Tory party, expressing her concerns about the comments made by Mr Anderson. She stated that these remarks were just one example of a larger problem of Islamophobic comments going unaddressed and even tolerated within the party. This situation is of great concern to Dodds.

She mentioned instances of Islamophobia present in the Conservative Party. One such example was cited by Susan Hall, the candidate for London mayoral elections, who claimed that Jewish individuals in London were afraid of Khan because of his divisive approach.

Additionally, she mentioned a probe into accusations made by Nus Ghani. Ghani claimed that she was informed her presence as a Muslim was causing discomfort among colleagues when she was dismissed from her position in the Government back in 2020.

Ms. Dodds made a statement accusing Lee Anderson of expressing clear Islamophobia. She also criticized Rishi Sunak for not taking action or removing Anderson's privileges, which implies a lot.

In an effort to maintain the support of the Red Wall voters who played a crucial role in securing victory for the Conservative party under Boris Johnson's leadership in 2019, Mr Sunak appointed Mr Anderson as the Tory deputy chairman back in February. The aim was to establish a connection with these voters.

The Ashfield MP frequently made controversial statements that put the PM and other ministers in an uncomfortable position of having to defend them.

In January, he quit from his role as deputy chairman due to a significant rebellion against the Rwanda deportation bill proposed by Mr Sunak. He did not think the bill gave enough permission to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda from the UK.