Markus Andrews

Nick Ferrari cut a Tory minister’s interview short after he refused to say whether Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan were Islamophobic.The Ashfield MP received widespread criticism and had the Tory whip suspended after claiming the London mayor is being controlled by “Islamists”.Mr Anderson has refused to apologise and insisted he will be standing at the next election.When asked for the third time if Mr Anderson’s comments were Islamophobic, illegal migration minister Michael Tomlinson said “it was wrong,” prompting Mr Ferrari to curtail the interview. More

Lee Anderson has insisted he will not apologise over his remarks about London mayor Sadiq Khan which sparked an Islamophobia row within the Conservative party.The Ashfield MP was suspended over the weekend after he claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of Mr Khan and London.Appearing on GB News on Monday (26 February), Mr Anderson said: “I am not going to apologise while I have got a breath in my body, the comments I made were not racist at all.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailJeremy Hunt is said to be looking at cutting national insurance and introducing a vape tax as part of his upcoming March Budget.The chancellor is reportedly considering a 1 per cent NI reduction which will cost about £4.5 billion a year, in a bid to satiate calls within his party for tax cuts.But Mr Hunt has considerably less headroom than previously thought after official forecasts downgraded the amount of money available to the government.The chancellor is considering introducing a levy on vapes But the chancellor is still keen to push forward with some tax cuts, and is said to be looking at alternative sources of income to fund itIt is thought he may introduce a “vaping products levy” to be paid on imports and by manufacturers to try to make the habit unaffordable for children, The Times reports.The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has pushed back against the chancellor’s plans to introduce tax cuts, warning it would be “very challenging” to achieve considering Britain’s ageing population and mounting debt pile.It further cautioned the transition to net zero and protecting the UK’s public services like hospitals and schools would need higher spending in the medium term than current government plans.The chancellor has already scaled back his plans after he was said to be considering a 2p cut in national insurance tax, but the £13.7 billion a year cost made it unaffordable with current figures.Mr Hunt is also said to be considering only increasing public spending by 0.75 per cent rather than 1 per cent, a move that could save about £5 billion a year.But economists have warned this would lead to considerable spending cuts for unprotected departments. The IFS said this could worsen already struggling public services, such as courts and prisons, higher education and the Home Office.Rishi Sunak announced he would phase out the sale of cigarettes The IFS said during the Autumn statement the chancellor “ignored the impacts of higher inflation on public service budgets and instead used additional tax revenues to fund eye-catching tax cuts.”It warned against doing the same this time, stating that “until the Government is willing to provide more detail on its spending plans in a spending review, it should refrain from providing detail on tax cuts.”The plans to introduce a vaping duty are expected to raise more than £500 million a year by 2028 and 2029, and will be accompanied by a one-off increase in tobacco duty to ensure that vaping remains a cheaper alternative.The scheme forms part of Rishi Sunak’s push to stop children taking up vaping while creating a “smoke-free generation”. The prime minister announced he would phase out the sale of cigarettes in his Autumn conference speech, in what he dubbed the “biggest public health intervention in a generation”.The proposed vape tax is modelled on 15 similar schemes across Europe and will align the UK with the EU’s plans to introduce a bloc-wide vaping levy.Last week the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) informed the government that it would have about £13 billion of fiscal headroom, of which Hunt will leave about £6 billion in reserve.Typically, chancellors leave themselves £25 billion of headroom to cope with changes in interest rates and inflation without needing to change tax and spending policies, but Mr Hunt’s room for manoeuvre has been heavily impacted by inflation falling faster than expected, resulting in lower tax revenues, and increased borrowing costs.The final forecasts before the budget are expected on Friday. More

Lee Anderson has said that Conservative MPs have privately offered him support after his support over his comments about Sadiq Khan.The Ashfield MP received widespread criticism and had the Tory whip suspended after claiming the London mayor is being controlled by “Islamists”.Mr Anderson told GB News that he has had WhatsApp messages from colleagues in the House of Commons but would not reveal their identities.When asked if he had support from Tory MPs, Anderson said: “Yeah, there’s no Labour MPs. They’re calling for me to be stripped of the whip forever.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak was left squirming as he repeatedly refused to condemn as racist Lee Anderson’s widely criticised rant about Sadiq Khan being controlled by “Islamists”.The prime minister has consistently declined to say whether the Tory former deputy chair’s remarks were Islamophobic or anti-Muslim, saying he was suspended only because they were “wrong”. And, as Mr Anderson doubled down on the controversial rant, the prime minister also left the door open for his return to the Tory benches. Sir Keir Starmer ramped up the pressure on the PM, accusing him of “lacking the backbone” to call out Mr Anderson’s “Islamophobia”.The Labour leader said Mr Sunak is “too weak” to condemn the former Tory deputy chairman’s anti-Muslim rant as racist.And as Mr Anderson said it would be “a sign of weakness” to apologise, Mr Sunak continued with his refusal to describe the comments as Islamophobic.Rishi Sunak made Lee Anderson deputy chair of the Conservative Party Appearing on GB News last week, Mr Anderson said Muslim mayor Mr Khan is controlled by “Islamists”.He was suspended as a Tory MP after refusing to apologise for the remark, but the prime minister has refused to describe it as racist and ministers have not ruled out restoring the whip to Mr Anderson.As the fallout from Mr Anderson’s remarks grew:A Tory minister said the whip was removed from Mr Anderson “because anti-Muslim hatred is wrong”A Labour former minister said Mr Anderson’s comments led to a torrent of far-right abuse, forcing her to seek extra police supportMr Anderson said the “vast majority” of Muslims in the UK are “decent”, but refused to apologise for his comments Reform UK appeared to extend an invite for Mr Anderson to join the insurgent right-wing partySir Keir said Mr Sunak “lacks the backbone to call out “Islamophobia” after the remarks.The Labour leader said: “I think this is straightforward. It’s Islamophobia and the prime minister should call it out for what it is. The reason he won’t is because he is so weak.”He added: “I don’t think anyone can make any excuses for this prime minister and say it’s all too difficult.“It’s very straightforward, he lacks the backbone to call this out for what it is because he’s leading a divided party, a chaotic party and it’s no wonder people have just had enough of this after 14 years, and desperately want change.”Keir Starmer said Rishi Sunak is ‘too weak’ to call out Lee Anderson’s Islamophobia Asked about Mr Anderson’s comments during a visit to East Yorkshire, Mr Sunak said: “I’ve been very clear that what he said was wrong, it was unacceptable, and that’s why we suspended the whip.”But, pressed on whether he considered Mr Anderson’s remarks Islamophobic, the PM simply said: “I think the most important thing is that the words were wrong, they were ill-judged, they were unacceptable.”Earlier the PM denied the Conservative party has “Islamophobic tendencies”.It came as Mr Anderson sought to row back on his comments, but stopped short of offering an apology over the rant.He said: “If you are wrong, apologising is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength.“But when you think you are right, you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness.”He said he had made comments “that some people thought were divisive.“Politics is divisive and I am just incredibly frustrated about the abject failures of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.”He also said: “My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city.”Lee Anderson said his words ‘may have been clumsy’ after claiming Sadiq Khan is controlled by IslamistsThe row erupted last Friday when, discussing pro-Palestinian protests in London, Mr Anderson said: “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.”In a slight climbdown from his initial outburst, Mr Anderson said: “The vast majority of our Muslim friends in the UK are decent, hardworking citizens who make an amazing contribution to our society and their religion should not be blamed for the actions of a tiny minority of extremists.”After calling for the Conservatives to tackle the “moral rot” of anti-Muslim hatred in the party, Mr Khan said it was “remarkable” the PM had failed to call out “Islamophobia” directly. The mayor pointed to a statement issued by Mr Sunak which called out rising incidents of “prejudice and antisemitism”, but neglected to mention anti-Muslim hatred specifically, despite a surge since 7 October last year.“This speaks volumes,” Mr Khan said. Writing in the Evening Standard, Mr Khan added: “It shouldn’t be hard to call out comments that are so unambiguously ignorant, prejudiced and racist. Yet those at the top of the Conservative Government are stubbornly refusing to do so.“It’s a tacit endorsement of anti-Muslim hatred and can only lead to the conclusion that anti-Muslim bigotry and racism are not taken seriously.”Senior Tory Tom Tugendhat came the closest to describing Mr Anderson’s comments as “anti-Muslim” and suggesting that is why he was suspended from the party. The home office minister said: “The whip was removed immediately because anti-Muslim hatred is wrong.”Meanwhile, a Labour former minister told MPs she had to seek extra police support over the weekend due to receiving far-right abuse following “racist, Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate” she said had been partly encouraged by Mr Anderson.Speaking in the Commons, Dawn Butler said: “I have had to seek extra police support this weekend due to the far-right abuse that I have suffered inspired and unleashed in part by the conspiracy theory, the racist, Islamophobic, anti-Muslim hate.”It came as Reform UK appeared to extend an invite for Mr Anderson to join the party after his suspension from the Conservatives.The former Brexit Party, set up by Nigel Farage, said Mr Anderson speaks “for millions who are appalled by what is happening to our country”.Richard Tice, who took over from Mr Farage as Reform’s leader, said: “Lee Anderson may have been clumsy in his precise choice of words, but his sentiments are supported by millions of British citizens, including myself.”It is widely thought Mr Anderson will consider joining Reform to contest his Ashfield seat at the general election. Mr Farage on Saturday called for Mr Anderson to join the party and take on the Tories.And on Monday, Mr Tice added: “Never has Westminster and the craven left-leaning establishment been so out of touch with ordinary people.“I do not and will not give a running commentary on any discussions I have with any MPs, but those MPs have my number.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email Hungary’s parliament on Monday elected a new president after its previous head of state resigned in a scandal over a pardon she granted to an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case.Lawmakers in a secret vote approved the appointment to the presidency of Tamás Sulyok, 67, a lawyer who previously served as the head of Hungary’s Constitutional Court.Several opposition parties did not participate in the vote, and called for direct presidential elections instead of appointments by vote in parliament. They argued that the new president would be a “party soldier” of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.Sulyok received 134 votes in favor of his presidency while five lawmakers voted against. In a speech following his appointment, Sulyok presented himself as a follower of the letter of the law who would seek to refrain from engaging in Hungary’s political life.The role of president in Hungary is largely ceremonial, though they do have the power to send bills back to lawmakers or to the Constitutional Court for review.In his speech, Sulyok referenced procedures currently ongoing against Hungary in which the European Union has frozen billions in funding over rule-of-law and democracy concerns.“We can see how the correctly defined concept of the rule of law is being lost, transformed from an ideal into an idol in today’s Europe as part of a purely utilitarian political approach,” he said.He also spoke about his belief that member states of the European Union retain their legal national sovereignty despite their membership in the bloc.Sulyok is expected to formally assume the role on March 5.The election of a new head of state came after Hungary’s conservative president resigned on Feb. 10 amid public outcry over a pardon she granted to a man convicted of helping to cover up child sexual abuse in a state-run orphanage. That decision unleashed an unprecedented political scandal for Orbán’s long-serving government.Before the vote on Monday, opposition lawmaker Bence Tordai requested that members of parliament rise to observe a moment of silence for the recent death of Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny in a Siberian prison.While most members of the opposition rose from their seats, members of Orbán’s Fidesz party, which has among the closest relations with Russia in the EU, remained seated. In later remarks in parliament, Orbán criticized Navalny for comments he made during Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia that were criticized for their nationalist tone.”I thank the ruling party caucus for keeping their nerve in the Navalny case. Chauvinists do not deserve respect in the Hungarian parliament,” Orbán said. “But anyway, may he rest in peace.” More

Transport Secretary Mark Harper refused to label Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan as “racist”.Mr Anderson’s suspension following his comments about Mr Khan has today sparked wider debate over Tory Islamophobia.Sky News presenter Kay Burley asked Mr Harper repeatedly if Mr Anderson’s comments were “racist” during Monday’s show (26 February)Mr Harper replied: “What he said was wrong”.“You say it was wrong. Was it racist?”, the presenter repeated.Failing to answer yes or no, Mr Harper replied: “What he said was wrong and wasn’t true. He shouldn’t have said them.” More

Richard Madeley accused Transport Secretary Mark Harper of not answering a “simple” question on whether Lee Anderson’s comments about London Mayor Sadiq Khan were Islamophobic in a heated exchange on Good Morning Britain on Monday (26 February).Mr Anderson had the Conservative whip removed over the weekend after he claimed that “Islamists” have “got control” of the London mayor.Mr Madeley asked Mr Harper several times if Mr Anderson’s claims were Islamophobic, but the MP would not give a straight answer.Mr Madeley asked: “Was it Islamophobic, straight answer, yes or no?“I am giving you an opportunity to answer a straight question.“Would you just answer?” More