Britain’s Conservative Party on Saturday suspended one of its members, Lee Anderson, after he said London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of Islamists.
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Mr Khan, the first Muslim mayor of London and a member of the opposition Labor Party, has been criticized by Conservatives for his handling of police operations in the British capital, including regular pro-Palestinian marches. .
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered outside parliament on Wednesday in a chaotic vote on whether to call for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the exact language to use.
House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle said she broke parliament’s normal voting procedure because some members had received threats of violence for their views on the conflict.
Mr Anderson told television station GB News on Friday. “The fact is, I don’t believe that Islamists control our country. But what I do believe is that they control Khan, and they control London. . He actually handed over our capital to his comrades.”
Mr Khan, who has regularly spoken of the importance of combating anti-Semitism, misogyny and homophobia, told reporters that Mr Anderson’s comments were racist and Islamophobic, calling them “anti-Muslim hatred”. He said that he viewed the incident as adding fuel to the fire.
Amid growing criticism of Mr Anderson’s comments on Saturday, the Conservative Party announced that it had decided that he could no longer represent its members in parliament.
A spokesperson for Simon Hart, the government minister responsible for party discipline, said: “The leader has suspended the Conservative whip against Lee Anderson MP after he refused to apologize for his comments yesterday.”
Mr Anderson, a former Conservative Party vice-chairman, said he understood the decision to suspend him.
“We continue to support the government’s efforts to condemn extremism in all its forms, whether anti-Semitism or Islamophobia,” he said on Facebook.
A survey conducted by Savanta between February 16 and 18 found that 29% of Britons think the Conservative Party has a problem with Islamophobia, the highest of any major party.
(Reuters)