Lee Anderson doubles down in Islamist row

Rishi Sunak withdrew the whip from Lee Anderson on Saturday over his claim that Sadiq Khan had ‘given our capital away’ to Islamists, who he referred to as Khan’s ‘mates’. Two days on, the row is still dominating the media, with the BBC running a live blog on the issue. This morning, the Prime Minister used an interview with BBC Radio York to address Anderson’s comments directly for the first time. Sunak repeated three times that the comments were ‘not acceptable, they were wrong – and that’s why he had the whip suspended’.

Given other ministers have suggested that Anderson’s main crime was his refusal to apologise, Sunak’s intervention could be read as a hardening of the government line. It also raises questions about whether there is a path back for Anderson ahead of the election.