Britain’s ruling Conservative Party suspended Lee Anderson after he accused London Mayor Sadiq Khan of being controlled by Islamists.
Lee Anderson was suspended after he refused to apologise for remarks about Sadiq Khan made in a television interview on Friday, the party said. He will now sit in parliament as an independent candidate.
In his interview with GB News, Anderson criticised the police response to pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London, placing the blame on Khan: Anderson said he did not “actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London.”
Khan, for his part, rejected the allegations, telling the BBC that all forms of hatred should be rejected, including anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and misogyny.
The conflict has erupted at a time when the Israel-Hamas war is heightening tensions in British society. Pro-Palestinian marches in London regularly bring hundreds of thousands of demonstrators calling for an immediate ceasefire, although critics have labelled the events “antisemitic hate marches.”
Some lawmakers now say they fear for their safety after receiving threats over their stance on the Gaza conflict.
