02 March 2024 , 14:04
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Rishi Sunak will take no action against Liz Truss for welcoming disgraced Lee Anderson to a fundraising event - just hours after he vowed to stand up to divisive extremists in politics.
Mr Anderson, who Rishi Sunak suspended last week for claiming London mayor Sadiq Khan had given control of the capital to “his mates” and “Islamists”, was pictured standing with the ex-PM and fellow Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith at a fundraiser in Bassetlaw. On Wednesday, Mr Sunak said he had suspended Mr Anderson “immediately”, after he “heard something he didn’t agree with.”
And last night the PM gave a speech from the street outside No10, saying: “We must face down the extremists who would tear us apart…there must be leadership, not pandering or appeasement.” Yet party whips defended the pair, saying neither would face any disciplinary action for attending the event with Mr Anderson.
Mr Clarke-Smith hosted the event, first reported by the Daily Express - and billed as “in conversation with Liz Truss ” to raise money for Conservative party coffers. Mr Anderson was reportedly given a standing ovation by party members at the event, and a “hug” by Ms Truss when he arrived.
Labour said the news “beggars belief.” Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Paymaster General, said: "It’s staggering how Rishi Sunak allows both Lee Anderson and Liz Truss to so blatantly thwart his authority and expose his weak leadership.
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"After his abhorrent Islamophobia Lee Anderson should be sent packing from the Tory Party instead he gets a heroes welcome from Liz Truss and grassroots Tories. If Rishi Sunak’s call for unity is to mean anything he should kick Anderson out of the Tory Party for good."
And Lib Dem Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper said: “After Sunak’s speech calling for communities to come together, it is beyond belief to see that Lee Anderson is being welcomed to Conservative fundraising events. Anderson's remarks were racist, and designed to stoke division.
“Senior Conservative politicians have made irresponsible comments designed to raise suspicion, to provoke animosity and to divide communities for political gain. Rishi Sunak and the Conservative party are not fit to run our country.”
The Mirror contacted Conservative Party HQ to ask if the party chairman Richard Holden was comfortable with the suspended MP helping to raise money for the party. They declined to comment.
We also contacted No10, to ask if the Prime Minister was comfortable with Mr Anderson’s attendance at the event. A spokesperson declined to comment, and referred questions on disciplinary action to the whips’ office.
The whips’ office confirmed no action would be taken against either Mr Clarke-Smith or Liz Truss.