Sunak breaks his silence to say: Tories don't have Islamophobia problem

RISHI SUNAK was today forced to deny the Tories have a problem with Islamophobia as he spoke out for the first time on the Lee Anderson controversy.

- Jitendra Joshi

The row over the former deputy chairman's rant about Sadiq Khan intensified after Cabinet members refused to call out the Ashfield MP for racism or Islamophobia, with Transport Secretary Mark Harper keeping the door open to restoring the Commons whip if Mr Anderson apologises.

His inflammatory words about the London Mayor came at the end of one of the nastiest weeks in Westminster in recent years, with Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle's future thrown into doubt over his handling of a vote on the war in Gaza.

After issuing a statement over the weekend that failed to mention anti-Muslim hatred or the fallout from Mr Anderson's comments, the Prime Minister was asked this morning if the Conservative Party had Islamophobic tendencies. "No, of course it doesn't," Mr Sunak told BBC Radio York.