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Oliver Dowden won’t say whether he believes Lee Anderson had “intent” to be Islamophobic when he claimed “Islamists” had “taken control” of London and Mayor Sadiq Khan. avoided.
Mr Anderson was suspended by the Conservative Party on Saturday after refusing to apologize for comments he made during a widely criticized appearance on GB News.
On the BBC’s Sunday Laura Kuenssberg program today, Deputy Prime Minister Dowden repeatedly refused to answer when asked by the presenter whether Mr Anderson’s comments were racist, saying: “I don’t know how it could be taken that way.” “We share your concerns about whether this will happen.”
He also said, “The fact that it is received that way… [Conservative] The chief whip asked for an apology. ”
Mr Dowden also said he believed Mr Anderson “didn’t mean to be Islamophobic” and that had Mr Anderson apologized for his comments he would have continued to receive the Tory whip.
Asked whether he would have continued with the whip if Anderson had apologized, he told Kuenssberg, “Yes.”
Mr Dowden also said: ITV News He said he understood and agreed with Mr Anderson’s “deep dissatisfaction with what is going on in this country”, adding that his choice of words was “not appropriate”.
Mr Khan previously said the comments were “Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist” and “added fuel to the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.
Business Minister Nuss Ghani and senior patron Sir Sajid Javid were among the Conservative Party figures who joined the chorus of criticism across the political divide over the comments.
Mr Dowden said the comments were “wrong” and that Rishi Sunak had taken action after there was no apology from Mr Anderson.
However, the prime minister has yet to comment publicly on the remarks, with Mr Khan saying his “silence” amounted to “tacit support” for Islamophobia.
Labor wants him to ensure that no “deals or promises” have been offered to the former deputy leader that would cause him to return the whip.
Critics, including Mayor of London and Tory colleague Baroness Warsi, said the unrest was part of wider problems within the Conservative Party, with Mr Khan calling on the Prime Minister to It calls for an end to what it calls “moral corruption.”
Baroness Warsi later described Mr Dowden’s comments during Sunday’s media round as “disturbing, foul-mouthed” and “evasive”, and accused the Conservatives of “anti-Muslim racism being tolerated”. He claimed to have shown it.
Amid the backlash since Friday, comparisons have been made to Labor’s recent response to a leaked recording in which a parliamentary candidate suggested that Israel authorized Hamas’ October attack as a pretext for the invasion of Gaza.
The party expressed support for Azhar Ali after he apologized, but after new reports emerged that he blamed “certain Jewish media personnel” for suspending pro-Palestinian MPs. Withdrew support.
The prime minister was among Labour’s critics at the time, initially defending the aspiring MP and accusing Sir Keir of only acting “under enormous pressure from the media”.
Mr Anderson said he accepted Mr Sunak and Detective Inspector Simon Hart had been placed in a “difficult position” and had “no choice” but to discipline them.
“However, I continue to support the government’s efforts to condemn extremism in all its forms, whether anti-Semitism or Islamophobia,” he said in a statement.
Mr Anderson, a standard-bearer on the right-wing Conservative Party, will now stand as an independent unless he defectes to another party that offers support.
Additional reporting from the Press Association.