Tory MPs, including prime minister Rishi Sunak and his deputy Oliver Dowden, have refused to explicitly describe Lee Anderson’s comments about Sadiq Khan as Islamophobic.
The Ashfield MP received widespread criticism and had the Tory whip suspended after claiming the London mayor is being controlled by “Islamists”.
Mr Anderson has refused to apologise and insisted he will be standing at the next election.
Mr Sunak described Mr Anderson’s comments as “wrong” but he and a string of his colleagues have not explicitly said whether the remarks were Islamophobic or racist.
