Rishi Sunak claims he suspended Lee Anderson 'straight away' - but he didn't

28 February 2024 , 13:01

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Rishi Sunak suspended Lee Anderson after he claimed Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists (Image: PA)

Rishi Sunak has claimed he suspended Lee Anderson "straight away" even though he didn't.

At a fiery Prime Minister's Questions, the PM boasted about his "principles" as he tried to dodge questions on why he has not punished Liz Truss for her behaviour at a right-wing conference in the US last week. The Labour leader criticised Mr Sunak for being "too weak" to take action against the ex-PM after she stayed silent in an interview where Tommy Robinson was called a "hero" and claimed the "deep state" sabotaged her plans as PM.

The PM hit back at Mr Starmer for not being quick enough to suspend a Labour candidate over antisemitism claims. He said: "He talks about leadership. He talks about change, but when I learnt of something that I didn't agree with, I suspended one of my MPs straight away.

"But when he learnt of vile, anti-semitic remarks made by a Labour candidate, what did he do? He instructed his team to defend him. He sent a Shadow Cabinet Minister to campaign for him and he personally backed him for days and that's the difference between us. I act on my principles. He hasn't got any."

Keir Starmer criticised Mr Sunak for being 'too weak' to take action against Liz Truss (PA)

The PM suspended Mr Anderson last weekend after he claimed London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists. But he did not remove the whip from him "straight away", rather he dithered for a day and only took action after being criticised for failing to do anything.

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Mr Khan, who is the first Muslim to be London Mayor, had accused the PM and his Cabinet of "condoning" racism through their "deafening silence" over the comments. He also argued there was "a hierarchy when it comes to racism" and that Muslims will be "really concerned" about entering into politics.

Mr Starmer told the PM to take some "accountability" for his party as he criticised him for failing to take action against ex-PM Ms Truss who "spent last week claiming that Britain is run by a shadowy cabal made up of activists, the deep state and most chillingly of all the Financial Times". He asked the PM: "At what point did his party give up on governing and become the political wing of the Flat Earth Society?"

Mr Sunak accused the Labour leader of being "spineless" for backing his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn and accused him of having "sat there while anti-semitism ran rife" in the party. He also criticised Mr Starmer for being slow to ditch Azhar Ali, Labour's Rochdale by-election candidate, after a recording emerged of him suggesting Israel deliberately allowed its citizens to be killed so it could invade Gaza.

Sophie Huskisson