Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLee Anderson has joined the right wing populist Reform UK party following his suspension from the Conservatives for Islamophobic comments about Mayor of London Sadiq Khan.The news was announced by Reform UK leader Richard Tice at a special event in Westminster. Mr Anderson, former Tory deputy chairman, confirmed the move with a scathing attack on the Conservative Party.“All I want is my country back. Now this may sound offensive to the liberal elite.” he said.“But it’s not offensive to my friends or family, my constituents and some of my constituents like my mum and dad, who told me they could not vote for me unless I joined Reform UK”.The move makes Mr Anderson the first-ever MP for Reform UK. It marks a new milestone for the populist party, which has re-risen to prominence over the past few years. However, its roots go back to 2018, and figurehead Nigel Farage.Here’s everything you need to know about Reform UK:Could Reform UK win any seats at the next general election?While it’s unlikely Reform UK will win any seats at the next general election, they could prove to be a difficult obstacle for Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives to overcome.Recent YouGov polling puts the right wing populist party as high as 14 per cent for voting intention. That places it third after Labour and the Conservatives – and ahead of the Lib Dems or Green.Mr Tice has said Reform UK’s aim at the next general election is to cause the government to “lose seats,” as the party undercuts the Conservatives on several key issues.‘Let’s Make Britain Great’ reads Reform UK’s slogan, with key policies including tighter immigration controls, lower taxation, cutting NHS waiting lists, and reforming the BBC and House of Lords.The party also calls for an overhaul of the government’s Net Zero plans, calling them ‘net stupid’.Reform UK stood candidates in all three of the February 2024 by-elections, gaining 13 per cent in Wellingborough, 10.4 per cent in Kingswood, and 6.3 per cent in Rochdale.Mr Anderson’s defection now gifts Reform UK an increased political legitimacy, as the party suddenly gains a voice in parliament.What is Reform UK?Brexit Party and 2019 general electionReform UK was founded with backing from Mr Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party. The party was originally led by co-founder Catherine Blaiklock, who stood down in March 2019 following a row over Islamophobic tweets she had written.Shortly after Mr Farage took over, claiming that Ms Blaiklock was “never intended to be the long-term leader” and dismissing the issue as “teething problems”.The Brexit Party gained political traction after winning a majority in the UK’s 2019 European elections. Amongst the winners was Brexit campaigner and businessman Richard Tice, who has been chairman since May 2019.Mr Farage publicly offered a pact to then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson ahead of that year’s December general election, offering to withdraw candidates from traditionally Conservative-voting seats.In return, he asked his party be allowed to run uncontested in traditionally Labour-voting seats.Although Mr Johnson refused the request, Mr Farage still withdrew 317 candidates from Conservative-voting seats, standing 275 overall.The party went on to secure no seats at the general election, gaining only 2 per cent of the vote. Despite the poor result, Mr Farage claimed victory, saying that his party had taken thousands of votes from the Tories and quashed hopes of a second EU referendum.“I killed the Liberal Democrats and I hurt the Labour Party,” he added.Becoming Reform UK and the Covid pandemicIn November 2020, Mr Farage and Mr Tice announced that they had applied to the Electoral Commission to rename the party to Reform UK. The move was approved in January 2021.Alongside the rebrand, the pair outlined a new campaign agenda for the party focusing on opposing Covid lockdowns and ‘reforming’ institutions like the House of Lords.Mr Farage stepped down as leader in March 2021, and was replaced by Mr Tice. In a letter to members, the former UKIP leader said he would remain as the party’s “honorary president” but “relinquish any executive power within the party”.“I now feel I can do just as much to shift public opinion through media and social media as I can as a campaigning party leader,” he added.The party unsuccessfuly attempted to gain representation in Wales’ Senedd and Scottish Parliament in 2019 and 2021. At the 2023 local elections, they gained 6 seats nationally, averaging 6 per cent of the vote in wards where they party stood.On 20 October 2023, Mr Tice confirmed Reform UK would stand candidates in every UK seat and “make sure the Tories lose”. More

A friend of Lee Anderson said he “regrets” the Ashfield MP’s decision to defect to Reform UK from the Conservative Party.Speaking on Politics Live on Monday, 11 March, following the announcement, Tory MP Danny Kruger said he believed it was wrong for the whip to have been removed from Anderson after his remarks about Sadiq Khan and declared: “Today is a wake-up call for us as a party.”It came after Mr Anderson held a press conference with Reform UK leader Richard Tice in which he claimed his parents “could not vote for him” if he stayed in the Tory party. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The former deputy chairman of Britain’s Conservative Party, who drew condemnation last month for saying the mayor of London is controlled by Islamists, has defected to the smaller right-wing Reform U.K. Party.Lee Anderson was suspended as a Conservative lawmaker in Parliament after he claimed that Islamists had “got control” of London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who is a Muslim, amid heightened tensions in the U.K. over the Israel-Hamas war. Speaking at a news conference Monday, Anderson accused the governing Conservatives of stifling free speech. He said he had been disciplined for speaking his mind and for “speaking up on behalf of millions of people up and down the country who agree with me.”Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned Anderson’s comments on Khan, and denied that his party had an Islamophobia problem.In defecting Anderson becomes the first lawmaker for the Reform U.K., which was founded by right-wing populist politician Nigel Farage. The party, formerly known as the Brexit Party, is seeking to attract dissatisfied Conservative voters mainly over the issue of immigration. Reform finished in third place in two recent special local elections, and is seen by some Conservatives as a challenger with growing support, polling at around 10% of support from voters. Critics say Anderson’s defection highlighted the bitter divisions within the Conservative Party, which is polling far behind the opposition Labour Party and faces a tough battle to win voters at the general election, expected some time this year. “The truth is that the prime minister is too weak to lead a party too extreme to be led,” Labour lawmaker Pat McFadden said. More

A Rishi Sunak lookalike acted as a gameshow host spinning a dystopian “wheel of misfortune” created by Amnesty International UK to “highlight the serious consequences of the controversial Rwanda bill.”The action was staged outside the House of Commons on Monday, 11 March, a day before the government’s proposed asylum law was due to receive its third reading in the Lords.The charity is calling for lawmakers to reject the bill and stop playing a “dystopian horror game” with the lives of people seeking asylum. More

Sir Keir Starmer dismissed calls for a by-election following Lee Anderson’s decision to defect from the Conservative Party to Reform UK.The Ashfield MP announced his move in a press conference on Friday, 11 March, during which he claimed his mum and dad had told him they would not vote for him unless he switched to Richard Tice’s party.Mr Anderson has ruled out calling a by-election, telling the BBC it “would be pretty reckless for me to suggest a by-election when we could have a general election in May”.The Labour leader made a similar statement, telling Sky News: “Forget about Lee Anderson, let’s have a general election.” More

Lee Anderson criticised Reform UK weeks before defecting from the Conservative Party, declaring the party “leaves the door open for Sir Keir Starmer to get into Number 10 and undo all the hard work we’ve tried to do so far.”On 2 January, the Ashfield MP said Richard Tice’s part “is not the answer”.“I’ve got a lot of time for Richard, but knock on doors in Ashfield and nobody’s ever heard of him,” Mr Anderson said.Mr Anderson announced his move on Friday, 11 March.It marks his third political party membership in six years, having first supported Labour before defecting to the Tories. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailMore than £100 million will be used to protect Muslim schools, community centres and mosques from a rising number of hate attacks, the home secretary has announced. The money will be spent on security measures which include alarms, fences and CCTV cameras, James Cleverly said. It follows a similar package of £70 million for Jewish groups, as rising tensions over the war in Gaza fuel divisions in the UK. In a statement, Mr Cleverly said that anti-Muslim hatred “has absolutely no place in our society”.”We will not let events in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse against British Muslims,” he said.The new money would give “reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims at a time when it is crucially needed”.Ministers have recently condemned an increase in reported anti-Muslim and anti-Jewish hatred. The government was recently accused of stoking tensions after Lee Anderson claimed the London mayor was controlled by “Islamists”.The former deputy chair of the Conservatives was suspended by the party over the remarks, but only after a delay of almost a day.And ministers have still continued to refuse to say his comments were Islamophobic, stating only that they were wrong.Ministers have also suffered a blow after the frontrunner to become a new adviser on the issue pulled out saying he “couldn’t take” the amount of abuse he had received. Fiyaz Mughal, who founded the organisation Tell MAMA, which looks at anti-Muslim hate, said the abuse he had suffered for more than 10 years escalated after his name was linked to the role. In all the government will give £117 million over the next four years. The announcement, which comes at the start of Ramadan, will cover sites across the UK.Security minister Tom Tugendhat said: “This funding demonstrates that this government stands firmly against hate crimes, abuse, threats or harassment against British Muslims.”We continue to work closely with policing and community partners to ensure the safety and security of British Muslims.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe Home Office is “dysfunctional” and in desperate need of reform, the sacked borders watchdog David Neal has said in his latest broadside against the government.Mr Neal was fired from his role as chief inspector of borders and immigration last month after claiming that Border Force had allowed “high-risk” aircraft to land in the UK without security checks, which the Home Office denied.He continues to be an outspoken critic of the department and says he “paid the price” for voicing his concerns and that his conscience remains “absolutely clear”.James Cleverly, the home secretary, said Mr Neal had breached the terms of his appointment and he had lost confidence in him.In a BBC interview, Mr Neal said failings in the immigration system go “right to the top” of the Home Office. He told The Today Podcast: “The Home Office is dysfunctional, the Home Office needs reform.”After his dismissal, the Home Office published 13 of Mr Neal’s reports on the same day as damning findings from an inquiry into Sarah Everard’s murder by serving police officer Wayne Couzens, leading to claims the government was trying to bury bad news.Mr Neal appeared before the Home Affair Committee In one of the reports, Mr Neal said protections at UK airports were neither “effective nor efficient” because ePassport gates were sometimes left unmanned.Roving officers were sometimes distracted by having to manage queues and deal with passenger queries, and that “basic stuff is not being done well”, he said.“Inspectors saw border posts left unmanned while officers signalled for attention from their managers. This is unacceptable and needs to be addressed urgently,” the report said.Mr Neal suggested that his sacking and the lack of a replacement meant there would be less scrutiny of border-related issues, including the Rwanda asylum scheme.“I’ve been sacked. So there will be no scrutiny of small boats, there will be no scrutiny of adults at risk in detention which is a controversial area, there will be no publishing of the Rwanda material.”A Home Office spokesman said: “It is the job of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration to identify challenges in our system, including those proposed by Border Force, so we can take action to address them.“But by their nature, each of the ICIBI reports will only be a snapshot of what is going on and will not reflect the changes we make as a result of their findings.Protections at UK airports were neither ‘effective nor efficient’ because ePassport gates were sometimes left unmanned, Mr Neal says “A programme of work is already well under way to reform and strengthen Border Force’s capabilities. This is delivering on the prime minister’s pledge to make our structures and resources as strong as possible.“The work the Home Office, Border Force and the NCA is doing with international partners to stop the boats is another part of our Border Force reform, and is already having a return with small boat arrivals down by a third when Mr Neal was sacked for leaking sensitive information he was told was inaccurate.”In the incident that led to his dismissal,  Mr Neal accused the Home Office of “dangerous failings” on border security.He said that checks were not being carried out on hundreds of private jets arriving at London City Airport.He said that the lapse in security risked organised criminals being able to bring gang members and contraband into the country. Foreign nationals with no right to enter the UK may also have been smuggled in, he said.The Home Office had “categorically rejected” the claims, saying that Mr Neal “has chosen to put misleading data into the public domain”.Mr Neal appeared before Home Affairs Committee at the end of February, telling MPs that he was sacked for “speaking truth to power”.He said that he would tell the future chief inspector that they should “have the moral courage to do what’s right” and “hold on to your principles”.He told MPs: “I think I’ve been sacked for doing what the law asks of me and I’ve breached, I’ve fallen down over a clause in my employment contract, which I think is a crying shame.”A Home Office spokesperson responded to Mr Neal’s testimony saying his appointment “was terminated after he leaked confidential and misleading information, and lost the confidence of the home secretary”. More