Rishi Sunak starts yet another week in damage control mode as he battles to contain the fallout from the Lee Anderson furore, with pressure from all sides to get the balance right.
Source - Daily Telegraph 26/02/24
PM denies Tory Party has ‘Islamophobic tendencies’
Sunak may have been hoping to kick off the week of the Rochdale by-election on the offensive, taking Labour to task over the fact it has had to disown its candidate over an anti-Semitism row.
Instead, in a grilling bright and early on local radio, he was forced to deny the Conservative Party has a problem with Islamophobia.
It comes after Anderson - a deputy party chairman until six weeks ago - claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of the Mayor of London.
Labour has urged Sunak to call the remarks Islamophobic, with equalities minister Kemi Badenoch and her shadow Anneliese Dodds getting into a spat on social media over how to define the term.
Asked if the Conservative Party has “Islamophobic tendencies”, Sunak told BBC Radio York: “No, of course it doesn’t. I think it is incumbent on all of us, especially those elected to Parliament, not to inflame our debates in a way that is harmful to others.
“Lee’s comments weren’t acceptable, they were wrong and that is why he has had the whip suspended.”
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Pressure on Sunak to ‘stand by’ Anderson’s suspension
Meanwhile, there’s been some unrest in centrist circles over the suggestion the Ashfield MP could get the whip back if he apologises.
Oliver Dowden, the deputy prime minister, has left the door open to his return, insisting Anderson had not been “intending to be Islamophobic”.
This didn’t sit well with one moderate Tory MP, who told me Sunak should stand firm.
“They’ve obviously told Lee he can rejoin the party, hence his statement worded the way it was,” they said.
“If you’ve removed the whip, then you have to stand by the action you’ve taken, not shy away from it and pretend like you didn’t.”
Sir Robert Buckland, a former justice secretary, told my colleague Genevieve Holl-Allen that the Tories should only entertain Anderson’s return if he gives a “full recantation and an explanation as to why on Earth he did make those ridiculous comments”.
Lee Anderson
Fears of voter backlash to ‘Red Wall Rottweiler’ sacking
Sunak is also facing warnings from Tory MPs in the Red Wall that Anderson’s sacking could provoke a voter backlash.
Some Conservatives have privately been telling colleagues that their inboxes have been flooded with supportive messages about the “Red Wall Rottweiler”.
Messages posted by Tory MPs in private WhatsApp groups over the weekend, revealed by The Telegraph, suggest some have concerns about the fallout.
Jill Mortimer, the MP for Hartlepool – a seat won from Labour in 2021 – shared a voter email that said: “Today’s news of Lee Anderson’s suspension has been the final nail in your party’s coffin.” She asked colleagues: “Anyone else getting these in?”
Sarah Dines, the MP for the Derbyshire Dales, said: “Loads. From random constituents, not known supporters. Interesting.”
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