LONDON: An MP at the center of an Islamophobia row in the UK received a standing ovation while appearing at a Tory fundraiser, despite being suspended by the party, MailOnline reported.
Lee Anderson, who was sacked last week after claiming in a TV interview that Sadiq Khan, London’s Muslim mayor, was “controlled by Islamists,” appeared at the exclusive dinner for a fellow MP’s reelection campaign.
Introduced as a “surprise appearance,” Anderson, a former deputy chairman of the Conservatives, appeared alongside former prime minister Liz Truss.
The MP, who has refused to apologize for his remarks to GB News, was given a standing ovation by audience members, as the party confronts widening internal rifts under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Sunak was later criticized by the opposition Labour party, whose shadow paymaster general, Jon Ashworth, said: “It beggars belief that, far from being suspended from the Tories as Rishi Sunak told us, here he is: Lee Anderson, parading around … with none other than Liz Truss.
“Given Rishi Sunak deems Mr. Anderson as unfit to be a Tory MP, he now needs to bar him from fundraising for the Tory party.
“Unless he takes action, Rishi Sunak will again be exposed as weaker than ever, and out of control of his chaotic, divided party.”
The controversy comes as the Conservatives face a growing threat from the right in Reform UK, the former Brexit Party.
Anderson has refused to rule out a potential switch to Reform ahead of a general election set for later this year.
New polling figures show Reform at its highest-ever popularity in the UK, just six points behind the Tories, MailOnline reported.
The YouGov survey results show that the populist party received a surge of support over the past week, moving from one percentage point to 14.
Reform’s leader, Richard Tice, has reportedly been in talks with Anderson over a potential switch.
Labour remain at the top of party polls on 46 points compared with 20 for the Conservatives.
