Lee Anderson has doubled down on his attack on Sadiq Khan and insisted he will not apologise for claiming the London mayor had “given our capital city away to his mates”.
The former Tory deputy chairman lost the party whip after he refused to apologise for saying “Islamists” had “got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London”.
Rishi Sunak today described Anderson’s remarks as “wrong” and “unacceptable”.
His deputy, Oliver Dowden, yesterday suggested that Anderson could be re-admitted to the Conservative Party if he apologised.
But in a defiant statement today, the Ashfield MP 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.”
Anderson also launched a fresh attack on Khan’s record as London mayor, particularly over the pro-Palestine marches which have taken place in the capital in recent months.
He said: “Hundreds of people had been arrested for racist abuse on these marches and we barely hear a peep from the mayor.
“If these marches were about something less fashionable Sadiq Khan would have been the first to call for them to be cancelled. It’s double standards for political benefit.”
Anderson added: “The vast majority of Muslims are not Islamists in the same way the vast majority of Christians are not conservatives or socialists.
“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.
“My words may have been clumsy but my words were borne out of sheer frustration at what is happening to our beautiful capital city.
“We’ve got to get Khan out at the elections in May.”