Rishi Sunak has insisted that Lee Anderson is not “a racist person or an Islamophobic person”, despite suspending him from the Tory Party over comments about Sadiq Khan.
The party’s former deputy chairman said the London mayor had “given our capital city away to his mates”.
He also said “Islamists” had “got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London”.
Anderson lost the Tory whip on Saturday after he refused to apologise for the remarks, and today doubled down on the comments and insisted he would not say sorry.
Asked by ITV whether the comments were racist or Islamophobic, the prime minister said: “I don’t believe Lee is a racist person or an Islamophobic person, but the comments were wrong, they were unacceptable, they were ill-judged and that’s why it was right to suspend the whip and everyone needs to be careful with the language that they use.”
However, Sunak appeared to be contradicted by security minister Tom Tugendhat, who told MPs: “The whip was removed immediately because anti-Muslim hatred is wrong.”
But in a defiant statement today, Anderson 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.”