UK Politics

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThe deputy prime minister has said Lee Anderson was suspended for using “the wrong words” in an anti-Muslim rant about Sadiq Khan on GB News – as Rishi Sunak continued failing to address the comments. Oliver Dowden said Mr Anderson was given the chance to apologise for claiming the London mayor is controlled by “Islamists”, and would have kept the Tory whip if he had, but was eventually suspended for refusing to say sorry. He also repeatedly refused to say that the comments were racist, insisting only that the MP had used “the wrong words”.It came as the prime minister Mr Sunak warned of an “explosion in prejudice and antisemitism” but failed to address Islamophobia specifically or the Islamophobic rant by the ex-Tory deputy chairman – despite figures last week showing the number of incidents of anti-Muslim abuse in the UK more than tripled in the four months since the Hamas attacks in Israel.Lee Anderson was suspended after claiming Sadiq Khan was controlled by ‘Islamists’ Mr Anderson was eventually suspended over his comments and will now sit as an independent MP. In an appearance on GB News, 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.”Asked whether the comments were racist, Mr Dowden told Sky News: “The words that he chose to use were not the right words to use, they were the wrong words and words do matter.“And he was given that opportunity to apologise and he didn’t.”Pressed again by the BBC, Mr Dowden said: “I don’t believe that Lee Anderson said those remarks intending to be Islamophobic.”In a statement on Saturday night, Mr Sunak highlighted events “of recent weeks”, including pro-Palestinian protests across the country since the 7 October attacks.“The events of recent weeks are but the latest in an emerging pattern which should not be tolerated,” Mr Sunak said. But Mr Sunak has not yet responded to Mr Anderson’s comments. Rishi Sunak said there has been ‘an explosion in prejudice’ since war erupted in the Middle East In a statement after Mr Anderson’s suspension, the PM said legitimate protests have been “hijacked by extremists” and politicians have been “verbally threatened and physically, violently targeted”.Sir Keir Starmer said it was right that Mr Anderson was suspended from the party over the “appalling racist and Islamophobic outburst”. The Labour leader also challenged Mr Sunak over wider Islamophobia in the Conservative Party. “What does it say about the prime minister’s judgment that he made Lee Anderson deputy chairman of his party?” Sir Keir said. He added: “Whether it is Liz Truss staying silent on Tommy Robinson or Suella Braverman’s extreme rhetoric, Rishi Sunak’s weakness means Tory MPs can act with impunity.”This isn’t just embarrassing for the Conservative Party, it emboldens the worst forces in our politics. Rishi Sunak needs to get a grip and take on the extremists in his party.”The Tories may be getting more and more desperate as the election approaches, but Rishi Sunak has a responsibility to stop this slide into ever more toxic rhetoric.”It came as Mr Khan condemned the “moral rot” of anti-Muslim hatred in the Conservative Party. The London mayor said Mr Anderson’s “belated” suspension showed that “Muslims are fair game as far as the Conservative Party is concerned”.And on Sunday the Muslim Council of Britain wrote to the chairman of the Conservative Party demanding an investigation into “structural Islamophobia” in the party.In a letter to Richard Holden, the council said it welcomes the removal of the whip from Mr Anderson but alleged Islamophobia “persists” in the party.Zara Mohammed, secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, said: “Our view is that the Islamophobia in the (Conservative) Party is institutional, tolerated by the leadership and seen as acceptable by great swathes of the party membership.”The letter also criticised the Conservatives for removing the whip from Mr Anderson only after he refused to apologise.It said: “We note that he (Mr Anderson) was only censured for refusing to apologise, not for making the racist remarks in the first place. We also note that the whip was withdrawn only after there was widespread condemnation across the board, while the Prime Minister and the rest of the Cabinet remained silent.” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThree female MPs have been given taxpayer-funded bodyguards and cars as concerns over politicians’ safety are escalating.The women – who have not been named but include representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties – have had their security upgraded as MPs are said to be “petrified” at the abuse they are facing.In an overhaul of safety measures in place for MPs, security minister Tom Tugendhat has been working with the Home Office, the police and the parliamentary authorities, as well as the royal and VIP executive committee (Ravec), a secretive organisation responsible for the security of senior politicians and the royal family.The new process, launched following a referral by police or parliamentary authorities, comes as the threat level faced by British politicians has shot up in recent weeks.A senior security source told The Sunday Times: “Many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing.”The newspaper understands the three female MPs have been given close protection from private companies, as well as chauffeur-driven cars, which are usually only limited to senior members of the cabinet and the leader of the opposition.“We’ve taken a front-footed approach to coordinating action against the people or suspects that intelligence suggests most threaten MPs,” said a senior Whitehall source.Other MPs’ security is also under review if they are deemed at risk, while, for those not needing the highest level of protection, thousands of security measures have been put in place in London and at hundreds of constituency offices and homes. Private security operatives have been used at thousands of members’ surgeries and hundreds of events, alongside a police presence if required. MPs also have access to security advice, including via advisers based throughout the UK.Ravec’s membership and decisions are mostly opaque, although insiders do say it has a budget of hundreds of millions of pounds.It comes after the Palestine Solidarity Campaign defended the right to lobby MPs “in large numbers”, amid reports the group wanted so many protesters to turn up that parliament would “have to lock the doors”.The group said the issue of MPs’ security was “serious” but should not be used to “shield MPs from democratic accountability”.The organisation’s director Ben Jamal said thousands of people were “shamefully” denied entry into parliament on Wednesday as they attempted to lobby MPs to vote in favour of a ceasefire in Gaza in what he described was one of the largest physical lobbies of parliament in history.The Times reported that Mr Jamal told a crowd of demonstrators in the build-up to the protest on Wednesday: “We want so many of you to come that they will have to lock the doors of parliament itself.”Sir Lindsay Hoyle, the Commons speaker who has faced calls to resign after going against convention during the SNP’s Opposition Day debate on a ceasefire, said his motivation for widening Wednesday’s discussion was fuelled by concern about MPs’ security because of intimidation suffered by some parliamentarians.Mr Jamal said the group “does not call” for protests outside MPs’ homes and believed parliamentarians have a right “to have their privacy respected”.The government’s political violence tsar has said police should have the powers to “disperse” protests around parliament, MPs’ offices and council chambers that they deem to be threatening.Baron Walney, the government’s adviser on political violence and disruption, said on Friday that the “aggressive intimidation of MPs” by “mobs” was being mistaken for an “expression of democracy”.The crossbench peer, who in December submitted a government-commissioned review into how actions by political groups can “cross into criminality and disruption to people’s lives”, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme he was calling for police forces to act “uniformly in stopping” protest outside MPs’ homes. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailSadiq Khan has lashed out at Rishi Sunak’s “tacit endorsement” of Lee Anderson’s “racist” GB News rant, which saw him suspended from the Conservative Party.The London mayor said Mr Anderson’s “belated” suspension showed that “Muslims are fair game as far as the Conservative Party is concerned”.Mr Anderson, who quit as deputy Tory chairman last month, had the Conservative whip suspended for claiming “Islamists” have “got control” of Mr Khan.Tory chief whip Simon Hart said he was suspended not for the comments themselves, but for his “refusal to apologise”.After the outburst from Lee Anderson, Sadiq Khan said ‘blatant anti-Muslim hatred is being tolerated from top to bottom of the Tory party’ And Mr Khan said it is “time for the Tories to stop the moral rot” of anti-Muslim hatred in the party.Mr Khan said: “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 said Islamophobia has “gone through the roof” since the Hamas attacks 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 third term as London mayor in May’s election, said “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 said: “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, meaning he will no longer sit as a Tory MP, for a GB News rant in which he 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.”Following Mr Anderson’s suspension, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused Rishi Sunak of harbouring “extremists” in the party and said his “weakness” allows MPs to “act with impunity”.A spokesman for Mr Hart said: “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.”A Conservative source was defending Mr Anderson as recently as Friday evening before he was stripped of party support on Saturday.But Labour party chair Anneliese Dodds said Mr Anderson’s comments were “unambiguously Islamophobic, divisive and damaging”.Responding to his suspension, she said: “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 immediately mounted that Mr Anderson would seek to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party.The insurgent party previously denied claims that it offered money to Mr Anderson to defect, but it is believed he could contest his Ashfield seat, where he has a majority of just under 6,000, at the general election.It would be a major blow for Mr Sunak if Mr Anderson joined Reform. The party already threatens to scupper Tory hopes in tens of seats at the election, and the outspoken MP, a favourite on the Tory right, could convince even more former Conservative voters to switch parties.But, asked about the speculation, Reform leader Richard Tice said he was “not interested in pathetic Tory squabbling”.The PM is also under pressure to remove the whip from his predecessor Liz Truss, who was interviewed by Steve Bannon on a visit to the US and remained silent as he hailed far-right figure Tommy Robinson a “hero”.Ms Truss was slammed by former chancellor Sajid Javid, who said “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, cabinet minister Grant Shapps appeared to distance himself from the comments by Mr Anderson, but defended the controversial backbencher’s right to “speak (his) mind”.In a letter to Tory chair Richard Holden, Ms Dodds said Mr Anderson’s comments are “the tip of iceberg” and follow a “deeply concerning pattern of Islamophobic comments tolerated and Islamophobia not dealt with” within the party.She cited examples of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party including London mayoral candidate Susan Hall’s claim in October that Jewish people in London are “frightened” of Mr Khan’s “divisive attitude”.She also cited an investigation into allegations made by Nus Ghani that she was told that her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when she was sacked from the government in 2020.Ms Dodds had said: “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 last February in a bid to connect with and hold onto so-called Red Wall voters who helped the party win under Boris Johnson in 2019.But the Ashfield MP’s repeated controversial remarks have often proved awkward for the PM and other ministers forced to defend them.He resigned as deputy chairman in January as part of a major rebellion against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill, believing the legislation did not go far enough to allow Britain to deport asylum seekers to the east African nation. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email The U.K.’s governing Conservative Party has suspended ties with one if its lawmakers after he accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists, as tensions over the Israel-Hamas war roil British politics. The party said on Saturday that Lee Anderson was suspended after he refused to apologize for remarks made about Khan in a television interview on Friday. The action means that Anderson, a deputy chairman of the Conservatives until last month, will sit in Parliament as an independent.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other senior Conservative leaders had come under increasing pressure to reject the comments, which the chairwoman of the opposition Labour Party called “unambiguously racist and Islamophobic.”The controversy comes as the Israel-Hamas war fuels tensions in British society. Pro-Palestinian marches in London have regularly drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators calling for an immediate cease-fire, even as critics describe the events as “antisemitic hate marches.” Figures released over the last week show that both anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim incidents have risen sharply since Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7.That anger has spilled over into Parliament, where some lawmakers say they fear for their safety after receiving threats over their positions on the conflict in Gaza.In his interview with GB News, Anderson criticized the police response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London, leveling the blame on Khan.Anderson said he didn’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.’’Khan flatly rejected the allegations, telling the BBC that all forms of hatred need to be rejected, including antisemitism, Islamophobia and misogyny.“My concern is there’ll be people across the country, people who are Muslim, or look like Muslims, who’ll be really concerned about entering into politics, because they know if these are the sorts of comments that are said against me by a senior Conservative, what chance do they have?” he said. More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailLee Anderson has been suspended from the Conservative Party after a racist rant about Sadiq Khan on GB News.In a stunning fall from grace for Mr Anderson, who until last month was the deputy chairman of the party, he will no longer sit as a Tory MP.It follows Mr Anderson’s refusal to apologise over a widely criticised interview in which he said “Islamists” have “got control” of Mr Khan.In an appearance on GB News, 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.”Lee Anderson has had the Tory whip suspended (PA)Asked about the comments, Mr Khan said: “These comments from a senior Conservative are Islamophobic, are anti Muslim and are racist.”And, piling pressure on Rishi Sunak to suspend Mr Anderson, he said: “Racism is racism, I’m unclear why Rishi Sunak and members of his cabinet aren’t calling this out or condemning this.“It’s like they’re complicit in this sort of racism. And I think the message it sends is, Muslims are fair game.” And Mr Khan pointed to figures showing a spike in anti-Muslim hate incidents in recent months, adding that Mr Anderson’s comments “pour fuel on the fire”.A spokesperson for Tory chief whip Simon Hart said the decision had been made following the former Tory deputy chairman’s “refusal to apologise” for the remarks made on Friday.Mr Anderson said in a statement: “Following a call with the chief whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the prime minister in with regard to my comments. I fully accept that they had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances.”Mr Anderson bizarrely went on to promise he would “continue to support the Government’s efforts to call out extremism in all its forms – be that anti-semitism or Islamophobia”.Labour party chairman Anneliese Dodds said Mr Anderson’s comments were “unambiguously Islamophobic, divisive and damaging”.Responding to his suspendion, she said: “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 immediately mounted that Mr Anderson would seek to join Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, formerly the Brexit Party. The insurgent party previously denied claims that it offered money to Mr Anderson to defect to the party, but it is believed he could contest his Ashfield seat, where he has a majority of just under 6,000, at the general election. It would be a major blow for Mr Sunak if Mr Anderson joined Reform. The party already threatens to scupper Tory hopes in tens of seats at the election, and the outspoken MP, a favourite on the Tory right, could convince even more former Conservative voters to switch parties.But, asked about the speculation, Reform leader Richard Tice said he was “not interested in pathetic Tory squabbling”.Pressure had been mounting on the prime minister to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MPPressure had been mounting on the prime minister to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP, with Mr Khan saying the “deafening silence” of the Mr Sunak and his cabinet amounted to condoning racism.A Conservative source was defending Mr Anderson as recently as Friday evening before he was stripped of party support on Saturday.A spokesperson for Mr Hart said: “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the Chief Whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.”The PM is also under pressure to remove the whip from his predecessor Liz Truss, who was interviewed by Steve Bannon and remained silent as he hailed far-right figure Tommy Robinson a “hero”.Ms Truss was slammed by former chancellor Sajid Javid, who said “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, cabinet minister Grant Shapps appeared to distance himself from the comments by Mr Anderson, but defended the controversial backbencher’s right to “speak (his) mind”.But left-wing Labour MP Dawn Butler, chairman of the London Parliamentary Labour Party, has written alongside fellow London Labour MPs to the prime minister calling for “immediate action” over Mr Anderson’s comments.Ms Butler said the comments were “Islamaphobic and hateful” and “fuel the flames” of division in society, calling for Mr Anderson to have the Tory whip removed.And Labour demanded “serious, concrete action” from the Conservatives to “finally root out Islamophobia” after the comments.In a letter to Tory Chairman Richard Holden, Ms Dodds said Mr Anderson’s comments are “the tip of iceberg” and follow a “deeply concerning pattern of Islamophobic comments tolerated and Islamophobia not dealt with” within the party.She cited examples of Islamophobia within the Conservative Party including London mayoral candidate Susan Hall’s claim in October that Jewish people in London are “frightened” of Mr Khan’s “divisive attitude”.She also cited an investigation into allegations made by Nus Ghani that she was told that her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable” when she was sacked from the Government in 2020.Ms Dodds had said: “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 last February in a bid to connect with and hold onto so-called Red Wall voters who helped the party win under Boris Johnson in 2019. But the Ashfield MP’s repeated controversial remarks often proved awkward for the PM and other ministers forced to defend them. He resigned as deputy chairman in January as part of a major rebellion against Mr Sunak’s Rwanda deportation bill, believing the legislation did not go far enough to allow Britain to deport asylum seekers to the east African nation. Business minister Nus Ghani described fellow Tory MP Mr Anderson’s claim that “Islamists” have “got control” of Mr Khan as “foolish and dangerous”.In a post on X, she said: “I have spoken to Lee Anderson. I’ve called out Islamic extremism (& been attacked by hard left, far right & Islamists).“I don’t for one moment believe that Sadiq Khan is controlled by Islamists. To say so, is both foolish and dangerous. Frankly this is all so tiring…” More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailReform UK has set out a drastic set of tax-cutting measures in a bid to further woo disgruntled Tory voters.The former Brexit Party, set up by Nigel Farage, outlined plans to raise the threshold to charge the higher 40p rate of income tax from £50,000 to £70,000.As it continues piling pressure on Rishi Sunak, Reform also promised to raise the threshold for the basic rate of income tax from £12,570 to £20,000.And, in what would mark one of the biggest tax shakeups in a generation, the party said it would hike the stamp duty threshold, abolish inheritance tax for estates worth less than £2m and slash corporation tax.Reform gained 13 per cent of the vote in Wellingborough and 10 per cent in Kingswood, as the party eats into the Tory vote With the support of less than a tenth of the electorate, Reform’s proposals are unlikely ever to come to fruition. But the offering will serve as red meat to Conservatives upset at the record-high tax burden and soaring migration levels.Pollsters have already warned that Reform will cause chaos for the Tories at the general election, expected this autumn, splitting the right-wing vote in tens of seats.Any additional gains among those who backed Boris Johnson’s Conservatives in 2019 will add to the electoral headache for Mr Sunak – even if Reform fails to pick up a single seat.Ahead of a rally in Doncaster to set Reform on an election footing, Richard Tice, who succeeded Mr Farage as leader, launched his latest attack on the Conservatives.He wrote in the Daily Telegraph: “The Tories have betrayed us all by raising taxes, wasting money. We must reward the workers and the strivers, not the shirkers and skivers.“Sadly, the UK is in a dire situation and major reforms are urgently needed to save ourselves. I am today setting these out as we launch Our Contract with You at our Spring conference in Doncaster.“Britain has so much potential. Our country is full of talent and energy. Brexit is the opportunity of a lifetime. Yet weak leadership and failed management has led us to the edge of the precipice.”He added: “The Tories have broken Britain. Labour will bankrupt Britain. Starmergeddon awaits. Neither of them recognises how bad things are or has a credible plan to grow us out of this mess.”Reform matched its poll rating of around 10 per cent for the first time this month in by-elections in Kingswood and Wellingborough, suggesting it is on course to cause real trouble for Mr Sunak.There is also mounting speculation that Mr Farage, the party’s honorary president, will take on a formal campaigning role in Reform’s election campaign. Mr Farage is seen as one of the country’s savviest political operators, and his involvement with the party would only wil over more disgruntled Tories and Brexit supporters.Mr Tice has previously promised to stop mass immigration, scrap net zero measures,and help solve the cost of living crisis.The other policies promised in the party’s manifesto are a 20 per cent “tax relief” on private education and healthcare, a “freeze” on “non-essential immigration” and leaving the European Convention on Human Rights. More