Reform MP Lee Anderson has defended the far-right rioters, claiming “we all do daft things when we are young”.
Speaking to GB News on Tuesday evening, the former Tory Party chairman and one-time Labour councillor stood up for those behind the violent anti-immigration protests which have rocked the country over the last week.
He said: “I’m sure there’s a lot of young lads out there, the British working class lads, you know, throwing stones and damaging things, they’re not far-right thugs.”
He said: “These young lads that are going out, probably had one too many, they’ve got involved with the wrong crowd, they’re throwing stones, they’re damaging stuff.
“These are not far-right thugs, they’re just young idiots who got carried away.”
Anderson said he would sit them down in a room to talk to them and find out what the problem is, claiming that if PM Keir Starmer does not do just that, the riots will “continue and continue”.
The MP said: “Young foolish lads – we all do daft things when we’re young – he needs to sit down with them, find out what the problem is and try come up with some solutions rather than just banging them away.”
In the same interview, Anderson slammed home office minister Jess Phillips for her recent response to some masked men in her constituency.
Phillips was criticised for saying those individuals were aggressively protecting a mosque in her constituency because the far-right had suggested they were going to riot there.
Anderson hit out at this post from Phillips, telling GB News: “We don’t want that kind of divisive, dog-whistle politics, in this country.”
Anderson himself has regularly caused controversy with his comments, once saying migrants should “fuck off back to France”.
When asked if Reform UK, a populist party set up by Nigel Farage, was responsible for this surge in far-right sentiment, Anderson said that was “absolute nonsense”.
Anderson also claimed Starmer was using the far-right as an “excuse” because he “doesn’t know what to do” about the unrest.