Sadiq Khan calls Tories morally rotten and says PM’s silence on Lee Anderson makes Muslims fair game

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Sadiq Khan has lashed out at Rishi Sunak’s “tacit endorsement” of Lee Anderson’s “racist” GB News rant, which noticed him suspended from the Conservative Party.

The London mayor mentioned Mr Anderson’s “belated” suspension confirmed that “Muslims are fair game as far as the Conservative Party is concerned”.

Mr Anderson, who stop as deputy Tory chairman final month, had the Conservative whip suspended for claiming “Islamists” have “got control” of Mr Khan.

Tory chief whip Simon Hart mentioned he was suspended not for the feedback themselves, however for his “refusal to apologise”.

And Mr Khan mentioned it’s “time for the Tories to stop the moral rot” of anti-Muslim hatred within the occasion.

Mr Khan mentioned: “Blatant anti-Muslim hatred is being tolerated from top to bottom of the party, with everyone from ministers to mayoral candidates failing to condemn even the most clear-cut examples of bigotry and racism.

“In the last week alone, we’ve seen the last Tory prime minster promoting dangerous conspiracy theories, the last Tory home secretary peddling far-right tropes, and the last deputy chair of the party targeting me for no other reason than my faith and race – yet we had days of silence from the Tories.”

Mr Khan mentioned Islamophobia has “gone through the roof” for the reason that Hamas assaults in Israel on 7 October.

“Anderson’s comments have poured petrol on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred… the message it sends is some forms of hatred and racism are acceptable,” he added.

Mr Khan, standing for a 3rd time period as London mayor in May’s election, mentioned “the last thing anyone should want” is “a repeat of the divisive, racist and Islamophobic mayoral campaign the Conservatives ran in London in 2016”.

In an emotive intervention, Mr Khan mentioned: “Enough is enough – it’s time for the Tories to stop the moral rot that demeans not only their party, but our country’s and capital’s proud values of openness, decency and mutual respect.”

Mr Anderson was suspended, which means he’ll now not sit as a Tory MP, for a GB News rant by which he mentioned: “I don’t actually believe that the 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’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”

A spokesman for Mr Hart mentioned: “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.”

A Conservative supply was defending Mr Anderson as just lately as Friday night earlier than he was stripped of occasion assist on Saturday.

But Labour occasion chair Anneliese Dodds mentioned Mr Anderson’s feedback had been “unambiguously Islamophobic, divisive and damaging”.

Responding to his suspension, she mentioned: “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.”

Speculation instantly mounted that Mr Anderson would search to affix Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, previously the Brexit Party.

The rebel occasion beforehand denied claims that it supplied cash to Mr Anderson to defect, however it’s believed he might contest his Ashfield seat, the place he has a majority of just below 6,000, on the common election.

It could be a serious blow for Mr Sunak if Mr Anderson joined Reform. The occasion already threatens to scupper Tory hopes in tens of seats on the election, and the outspoken MP, a favorite on the Tory proper, might persuade much more former Conservative voters to change events.

But, requested concerning the hypothesis, Reform chief Richard Tice mentioned he was “not interested in pathetic Tory squabbling”.

The PM can be beneath stress to take away the whip from his predecessor Liz Truss, who was interviewed by Steve Bannon on a go to to the US and remained silent as he hailed far-right determine Tommy Robinson a “hero”.

Ms Truss was slammed by former chancellor Sajid Javid, who mentioned “I’d hope every MP would confront such a statement head-on”. “Liz should really know better,” Sir Sajid added. And Labour’s Jonathan Ashworth accused Ms Truss of an “unforgivable lowering of the office of prime minister”.

On Saturday morning, cupboard minister Grant Shapps appeared to distance himself from the feedback by Mr Anderson, however defended the controversial backbencher’s proper to “speak (his) mind”.

In a letter to Tory chair Richard Holden, Ms Dodds mentioned Mr Anderson’s feedback are “the tip of iceberg” and comply with a “deeply concerning pattern of Islamophobic comments tolerated and Islamophobia not dealt with” inside the occasion.

She cited examples of Islamophobia inside the Conservative Party together with London mayoral candidate Susan Hall’s declare in October that Jewish individuals in London are “frightened” of Mr Khan’s “divisive attitude”.

She additionally cited an investigation into allegations made by Nus Ghani that she was instructed that her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when she was sacked from the federal government in 2020.

Ms Dodds had mentioned: “Lee Anderson’s comments were unambiguously Islamophobic and Rishi Sunak’s failure to suspend the whip or take any other action speaks volumes.”

Mr Sunak made Mr Anderson Tory deputy chairman final February in a bid to attach with and maintain onto so-called Red Wall voters who helped the occasion win beneath Boris Johnson in 2019.

But the Ashfield MP’s repeated controversial remarks have usually proved awkward for the PM and different ministers compelled to defend them.

He resigned as deputy chairman in January as a part of a serious rebel in opposition to Mr Sunak’s Rwanda deportation invoice, believing the laws didn’t go far sufficient to permit Britain to deport asylum seekers to the east African nation.