Police ‘assessing’ hate speech grievance towards Lee Anderson
Police are “assessing” a report of hate speech made towards Lee Anderson following his declare “Islamists” had taken management of London and its mayor, Sadiq Khan, Sky News understands.
The Ashfield MP was suspended from the Conservative Party final weekend after he refused to apologise for the remarks, which have been branded as racist by Mr Khan and others.
However, whereas ministers – together with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – have described the feedback as “wrong”, they’ve repeatedly declined to categorise them as Islamophobic.
Politics dwell: Farage hits out at Starmer attack
The Metropolitan Police don’t title people who haven’t been charged with a felony offence.
However, after it was first reported in The Sun, the drive did verify a report had been made to them concerning an allegation of hate speech from an MP.
A spokesperson mentioned: “A report was made to police on Saturday, 24 February. Officers are assessing this report.”
Electoral Dysfunction
Listen to Beth Rigby, Jess Phillips and Ruth Davidson as they unravel the spin in a brand new weekly podcast from Sky News
Questions stay round Mr Anderson’s future within the Commons, with some allies within the Tories demanding he’s reinstated and others calling for harder motion for his feedback.
He has additionally didn’t rule out becoming a member of the rival Reform Party – arrange by Nigel Farage and run by his GB News presenting colleague Richard Tice, who he’s alleged to have met in an M1 resort for talks earlier this week.
Read extra:
Ministers ‘pandering to far right’ by not calling out Islamophobia, says ex-government adviser
‘Words matter’ – Lee Anderson, heightened tension and MPs’ safety
Mr Anderson defended himself again on Wednesday in an article for the Daily Express, accusing Mr Khan of “playing the race card”, and mentioned the mayor had solely accused him of racism for “political advantage”.
But whereas the now impartial MP has mentioned the phrases he used have been “clumsy”, he has nonetheless refused to apologise for them.
On Tuesday, Downing Street mentioned Mr Sunak didn’t imagine Mr Anderson to be racist however mentioned “the language he used was wrong and it’s unacceptable obviously to conflate all Muslims with Islamist extremism or the extreme ideology of Islamism”.
The spokesperson additionally mentioned ministers had not been instructed to not use the time period “Islamophobia”, saying the phrases “conflates race with religion, does not address sectarianism within Islam and may inadvertently undermine freedom of speech”.
“Anti-Muslim hatred is the more precise term which better reflects UK hate crime legislation,” they added.
Mr Anderson has been approached for remark.