Tory party deputy chairman Lee Anderson is getting paid £100,000 a year for hosting a show on GB News – and his debut outing certainly provided food for thought.
The MP for Ashfield launched Lee Anderson’s Real World on Friday night with a monologue arguing everything that is “good” in the world started in Britain – citing the industrial revolution, football and Dickens.
But his pean to national pride will possibly be over-shadowed by a curious section of the show involving fellow Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, who was on the programme to chew over the week’s news.
Last month, Clarke-Smith, MP for Bassetlaw, faced a backlash for suggesting hard-pressed families ditch branded goods and buy supermarket-own baked beans instead amid spiralling food inflation.
The controversy prompted Anderson to give Clarke-Smith a test taste – and spoon cold beans into his colleague’s mouth. “Here comes the train,” warned Anderson ahead of the first mouthful. Clarke-Smith noted they were “cold”.
The result seems beyond the point. The content creation comes amid fears that the British economy is heading for a recession.
This week, the Bank of England raised interest rates for the 13th month in a row after data showed the downward trajectory of inflation has stalled.
The base rate hike to 5% will cause misery for homeowners who have to refinance their mortgages in the coming months.
Anderson himself has made some cost-cutting suggestions, and was branded “30p Lee” after claiming food banks are not really necessary because people can cook meals for 30p a day.
Among his other polarising views, the former Labour Party councillor has criticised England footballers for taking the knee and said he would support the return of the death penalty because “nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed”.
Anderson is the latest Tory MP to get his own show on GB News, joining fellow Conservatives Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey and Philip Davies in getting a berth on the channel.
Meanwhile, former culture secretary Nadine Dorries also has a Friday night chat show on TalkTV.