The deputy prime minister has refused to say on Sky News whether Lee Anderson is “racist” as he backed the decision to suspend him from the Conservative Party following his attack on Sadiq Khan.
Mr Anderson claimed “Islamists” had “got control” of the London mayor who had “given our capital city away to his mates”.
Deputy PM Oliver Dowden said the outspoken MP for Ashfield used the “wrong words” to hit out at the mayor, and that “words matter”.
However, Mr Dowden refused to condemn recent remarks by former home secretary Suella Braverman, who said the “Islamist mob” had now “taken over” communities in Britain.
Appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Mr Dowden explained that Mr Anderson “was given the opportunity to apologise and he didn’t do so, so therefore we removed the whip”.
Asked by Sir Trevor whether the suspension of Mr Anderson meant the party regarded him as “racist” – or suspected him of being so – Mr Dowden twice refused to address the question and repeated that the Ashfield MP had used “the wrong words”.
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Mr Anderson, who resigned as deputy party chairman over Rishi Sunak’s controversial Rwanda bill, was suspended on Saturday afternoon after comments he made on GB News prompted condemnation from across the political divide.
The MP, who was a Labour councillor before defecting to the Tories, told the channel: “I don’t actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they’ve got control of Khan and they’ve got control of London… He’s actually given our capital city away to his mates.”
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Image: Lee Anderson. Pic: PA
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said it was “right” that Mr Anderson lost the whip for what he called an “appalling racist and Islamophobic outburst”, while former Conservative chancellor Sir Sajid Javid branded the remarks “ridiculous”.
Following pressure to act, Conservative chief whip Simon Hart said Mr Anderson had been suspended “following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday”.
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Despite condemning Mr Anderson for his comments, Mr Dowden did not criticise Ms Braverman for using a recent op-ed article in the Daily Telegraph to claim the UK was “sleepwalking into a ghettoised society where Sharia law, the Islamist mob and antisemites take over communities”.
Asked why Ms Braverman still has the Conservative whip, Mr Dowden said: “I don’t shy away for a moment from facing up to what is happening right now, and I think all of us need to look ourselves in the mirror and say, what have we allowed our society to become?
“I see from my own constituents where Jewish people are fearful of walking the streets, showing symbols of their own religion, where we have hate on marches, and now we have the situation where the actual conduct of parliament is apparently being influenced by threats of violence and intimidation.”
He added: “I don’t believe the language used by Suella Braverman has crossed the line whereby she should apologise for it.”
Mr Sunak’s decision to remove the whip means Mr Anderson will sit as an independent MP in the Commons.
In a post on X after he was suspended on Saturday afternoon, the former deputy party chair said he accepted that the Conservatives had “no option” but to suspend him.
“Following a call with the chief whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the prime minister in with regard to my comments,” he said.
“I fully accept that they had no option but to suspend the whip in these circumstances.
“However, I will continue to support the government’s efforts to call out extremism in all its forms – be that antisemitism or Islamophobia.”
Sky News can reveal that the government has rowed back on a national compensation scheme for victims of child sexual abuse, despite it being promised under the previous Conservative administration.
Warning – this story contains references to sexual and physical abuse
A National Redress Scheme was one of 20 key recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), but a Home Office report reveals the government has scrapped it because of the cost.
Marie, who is 71, suffered alleged sexual, physical, and emotional abuse at Greenfield House Convent in St Helens, Merseyside, between 1959 and 1962, and is still fighting for compensation.
Image: Greenfield House Convent, where Marie says she was abused
As soon as she arrived as a six-year-old, Marie says her hair was cut off, her name changed, and she experienced regular beatings from the nuns and students.
She claims a nun instigated the violence, including when Marie was held down so that her legs were “spread-eagled” as she was sexually abused with a coat hanger.
Merseyside Police investigated claims of abuse at the convent, but in 2016, a suspect died before charges could be brought.
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Marie has received an apology from the Catholic body that ran the home; she tried to sue them, but her claim was rejected because it was filed too long after the alleged abuse.
Image: Marie, 71, is still fighting for compensation for the abuse she says she suffered as a child
In February, ministers said the law would change for victims of sexual abuse trying to sue institutions for damages, which was a recommendation from the IICSA.
Previously, people had to make a civil claim before they were 21, unless the victim could prove a fair trial could proceed despite the time lapse.
Campaigners argued for the time limit to be removed as, on average, victims wait 26 years to come forward. Changes to the 1980 Limitation Act could lead to more people making claims.
Image: Peter Garsden, President of The Association of Child Abuse Lawyers
Civil cases ‘can take three to five years’
But Peter Garsden, president of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, worries that when it comes to historical abuse where the defendant is dead, institutions will still argue that it is impossible to have a fair trial and will fight to have the case thrown out of court.
Mr Garsden said it takes “between three and five years” for a civil case to get to trial.
He warned that claimants “can end up losing if you go through that process. Whereas the Redress Scheme would be quicker, much more straightforward, and much more likely to give justice to the victims”.
Victim awarded £10 compensation
Jimbo, who was a victim of abuse at St Aidan’s children’s home in Cheshire, took his case to the High Court twice and the Court of Appeal three times, but, after 13 years, all he ended up with was £10 for his bus fare to court.
Despite the Lord Justice of Appeal saying he believed that the abuse had occurred, Jimbo lost his claim because of the time limit for child sexual abuse claims to be made.
Neither Marie nor Jimbo is likely to benefit from the removal of the time limit for personal injury claims, which is why Mr Garsden is calling on the government to implement a National Redress Scheme for victims of sexual abuse, as recommended by the IICSA.
Hundreds of millions paid to victims
The governments in Scotland and Northern Ireland have set up compensation schemes and paid hundreds of millions of pounds to victims.
In 2023, the then Conservative government said a similar scheme would be organised for England and Wales.
But the Home Office admitted in its Tackling Child Sexual Abuse: Progress Update that it “is not currently taking forward any further steps on the IICSA proposal for a separate, national financial redress scheme for all survivors of child sexual abuse”.
“In the current fiscal environment, this recommendation is very difficult to take forward,” it added.
For victims, the scheme was the last chance of compensation for a lifetime blighted by abuse.
“The money is about justice and about all the other people who have had to suffer this abuse,” Marie said.
Five men have been arrested on suspicion of the preparation of a terrorist act, according to the Metropolitan Police.
Counter-terror officers arrested the five men, four of whom are Iranian nationals, on Saturday, with all currently in police custody.
The Met said the arrests related to a “suspected plot to target a specific premises”.
In an update shortly after midnight, the force said: “Officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant advice and support, but for operational reasons, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”
It added officers were carrying out searches at a number of addresses in the Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas in connection with the investigation.
It said those detained were:
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area • A 46-year-old man arrested in west London • A 29-year-old man arrested in the Stockport area • A 40-year-old man arrested in the Rochdale area • A man whose age was not confirmed arrested in the Manchester area.
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Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “This is a fast-moving investigation and we are working closely with those at the affected site to keep them updated.
“The investigation is still in its early stages and we are exploring various lines of enquiry to establish any potential motivation as well as to identify whether there may be any further risk to the public linked to this matter.
“We understand the public may be concerned and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us.
“We are working closely with local officers in the areas where we have made arrests today and I’d like to thank police colleagues around the country for their ongoing support.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Fourteen children aged between 11 and 14 years old have been arrested after a boy died in a fire at an industrial site.
Northumbria Police said the group – 11 boys and three girls – were arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident in Gateshead on Friday. They remain in police custody.
Officers were called to reports of a fire near Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area shortly after 8pm.
Emergency services attended, and the fire was extinguished a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for a missing boy, Layton Carr, who was believed to be in the area at the time of the fire.
In a statement, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
Layton’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, police added.
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Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”, and asked that their privacy be respected.
A cordon remains in place at the site of the incident.