Lee Anderson launches fresh attack on Sadiq Khan as ministers still refuse to call his comments Islamophobic

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Lee Anderson has launched a fresh attack on Sadiq Khan days after he claimed the London mayor was managed by “Islamists“.

The former deputy chair of the Conservatives was suspended by the occasion over the remarks.

But ministers have still refused to say his comments had been Islamophobic, stating solely that they had been improper.

Now Mr Anderson has accused the Labour mayor of having fun with protest scenes in Whitehall which trigger disruption to parliament and put the federal government “in a bad light”.

His comments will pile extra strain on the federal government to distance themselves from the northern MP.

But he has additionally piled strain on the Tory management by hinting he may defect to Nigel Farage’s Reform occasion and stand on the subsequent normal election.

Tory MPs are already petrified of the impression Reform could have on the election. The occasion just isn’t presently on course to take any seats at Westminster. But senior Conservatives are involved they might win sufficient votes in key constituencies to hand victory to Labour .

In his newest comments made throughout an interview with Channel 5 information, Mr Anderson was requested if he would take again final week’s remarks.

He stated he would “probably change my words slightly”.

He added: “I think it’s all political, I think he almost enjoys seeing these, these scenes on Whitehall and on Parliament Square, which disrupts parliament, which puts my government in a bad light. I think he just turns a blind eye, its politics.”

Mr Anderson misplaced the Tory whip on the weekend after he claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of the Mayor of London.

Pressed over whether or not he would be part of the right-wing Reform UK occasion, the previous Labour councillor declined to remark however informed GB News he had “been on a political journey”.

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

He additionally stated he meant to stand on the subsequent election.

His fresh comments got here as senior Conservatives confronted mounting strain to describe his attack on Sadiq Khan as “Islamophobic”.

Radio station LBC abruptly halted an interview with Home Office minister Michael Tomlinson accusing him of failing to reply the query.

In questions from broadcasters on Tuesday, Mr Tomlinson refused 11 instances to clarify why he thought Mr Anderson’s comments had been “wrong”

His Home Office colleague Tom Pursglove additionally refused to use the time period, telling Times Radio: “I don’t think Lee personally is racist but what he said was unacceptable.”

The Prime Minister and others have condemned Mr Anderson’s comments, however have thus far shied away from calling them “Islamophobic”.

Labour has criticised that stance as “weak”, with one frontbencher saying the Prime Minister was “in hock” to “a strange coalition of MPs”.

Bridget Phillipson, the shadow schooling secretary, stated on Tuesday: “He (Anderson) should know better than that, he has been a senior figure within the Conservative Party.

“But I feel it speaks to Rishi Sunak‘s weak spot on this that his response has been wholly insufficient.”

On Tuesday morning, Downing Street said the PM regarded Mr Anderson’s comments as wrong because they had conflated all Muslims with Islamist extremism.

In a separate move, James Cleverly, the home secretary, joined calls for Mr Anderson to apologise.

The prime minister also declined to criticise former home secretary Suella Braverman, who claimed “the Islamists, the extremists and the antisemites are in cost now”.

“I feel that these comments weren’t about a person specifically,” he said, adding that “it is vital that we call out” the kind of “unacceptable” scenes “we’ve been witnessing on our streets in latest instances”.

On Tuesday, Mr Tomlinson, the illegal migration minister, said he thought Ms Braverman was “not proper” in her comments, but added he did not think she should have the whip withdrawn.

Reform UK leader Richard Tice did not rule out opening the door to Mr Anderson after his suspension, saying MPs considering defection “have my quantity”.

The Liberal Democrats have tabled a so-called censure movement calling on Parliament to rebuke Mr Anderson’s comments and demanding he come to the House and apologise.