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Rishi Sunak condemned Lee Anderson’s comments on Sadiq Khan after the MP had the whip suspended.The prime minister said the Conservative former deputy chairman’s remarks that sparked an Islamophobia row “weren’t acceptable, they were wrong”, as he denied the party has Islamophobic tendencies during an interview on BBC Radio York on Monday (26 February).Mr Anderson lost the Tory whip after failing to apologise for claiming “Islamists” had “got control” of the London mayor.”Words matter and his words weren’t acceptable and they were wrong, and that’s why the whip was suspended,” Mr Sunak told Georgey Spanwick.”It’s important that we maintain high standards.” More

Oliver Dowden has suggested Lee Anderson used the “wrong” words in an anti-Muslim rant about Sadiq Khan, but has refused to answer if the Conservative Party regards him as “racist”.The deputy prime minister 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.“Words do matter and he was given that opportunity to apologise and he didn’t,” Mr Dowden said of the MP, refusing to answer if the party regards him as racist. More

Grant Shapps has warned of “fatal” consequences if western countries give up on Ukraine.”The rest of the world – other regimes – will be looking at this and saying, ‘does the West just get bored after a couple of years?'” the defence secretary said, speaking to BBC Breakfast on the second anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.“If we do, that will be fatal… it matters to use because the world won’t be safe unless we stop a tyrant like [Vladimir] Putin.” More

Nigel Farage brought up his banking row in a speech to American conservatives at CPAC, eight months after first accusing Coutts, which is owned by NatWest, of deciding to close his account because it did not agree with his political views.The debacle resulted in the resignations of NatWest’s and Coutts’ bosses, Dame Alison Rose and Peter Flavel.NatWest admitted to “serious failings” in its treatment of Mr Farage and issued an apology, but said its decision to shut down his account was lawful and had been made predominately for commercial reasons.”Woke corporate culture is keen on cancelling people, and this includes our banking system,” Mr Farage said on Friday (23 February). More

Liz Truss hit out at Joe Biden for “intervening” in her economic policies during her short time in 10 Downing Street.Speaking at CPAC in Washington DC on Thursday, 22 February, the former prime minister defended her controversial tax-cutting plans from Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget which prompted the pound crashing to an all-time low against the dollar.”I’m not saying I’m a perfect person or I did everything exactly right, but I faced the most almighty backlash … from people that were meant to work for the government,” she said.”Even president Biden intervened to have a go at my policies. Now can you imagine being attacked on your economic policies by the inventor of Bidenomics?” More

Sir Keir Starmer said he did not threaten Sir Lindsay Hoyle “in any way” to ensure Labour got its way on a vote on Gaza on Wednesday night (21 February).The Labour leader insisted he “simply urged to ensure we have the broadest possible debate” as he spoke to reporters the following day.Sir Linsday has faced calls to resign after taking an exceptional decision to allow multiple Commons votes on the Israel-Hamas conflict.Sir Keir has been accused by Penny Mordaunt of using the Speaker for political gain over the vote.The Commons leader accused him of putting “the interests of the Labour party before the interests of the British people”. More

Islamist extremists are being allowed to intimidate Britain’s MPs and must be stopped, former Home Office minister Robert Jenrick has said.The senior Conservative MP said the “real issue” of the last 24 hours in Parliament was not the “party political shenanigans” but that the House of Commons “appears cowed by threats of violence and intimidation”.A Commons row erupted on Wednesday (21 February) over Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle’s handling of an SNP-led Gaza ceasefire debate, after he took the unusual step of selecting a Labour amendment, saying this came as he was “very, very concerned about the security” of MPs and wanted all sides to vote. More

Sir Lindsay Hoyle apologised to MPs again on Thursday 22 February, after the House of Commons descended into chaos on Wednesday evening during a Gaza ceasefire debate.The speaker admitted he made a “mistake” as he faces accusations he helped Sir Keir Starmer avoid another damaging revolt over the Middle East issue by upending parliamentary convention in approving Labour’s bid to alter an SNP motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.“I made a judgement call that did not end up in the position where I expected it to. I regret it, I apologise to the SNP and I apologise to the House,” Sir Lindsay said.“I made a mistake.” More