"He's not racist," says Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher as he defends "great friend" Lee Anderson

The outspoken former deputy party chairman was suspended by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak for suggesting London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists and has vowed not to apologise for his remarks.

Mr Fletcher, who invited Mr Anderson to Doncaster for a speaking engagement just days before his suspension had remained tight-lipped since Saturday’s suspension, but has now broken his silence, saying he was “standing up for a friend.”

Posting on social media and sharing an interview with Mr Anderson in the Daily Express, the Don Valley MP said: “Often in these situations, I believe we only add fuel to the fire and keep a media storm going by commenting about it on social media.

"However, sometimes we have to stand up and be counted and support the people we call friends. I believe this is one of those times.

“I have been very fortunate to have known Lee Anderson for four years. He is a great friend. The article he has written sets out clearly his position and the fact, which I have always known to be true, that he is not a racist.

“Comments made on the spot on live TV have often tripped up many good people over the years and will continue to do so.

"That’s live TV. I hope you will all read what Lee has written and we can then move on and deal with the many issues we face across the globe.”

In the article, Mr Anderson said: “Over the past week, I have been accused of making racist comments by Mayor Sadiq Khan, the media, the Labour Party and sadly some members of my Parliamentary party.

“This is all despite the fact I have not made one single racist comment.”

“The simple fact is I am not a racist, but in this day and age the opposition are very quick to use the race card for political advantage and, unfortunately, some of my colleagues also fell into the race trap.

“As I have said on numerous occasions over the past week, 99.9 percent of our Muslim friends in the UK are decent, hardworking and law-abiding people who just want to get on with their lives.

“The point I was trying to make last week was that the Mayor of London has lost control of our capital city as the extremists who hide under the Islam banner take over our streets in their attempt to change the course of our democracy.”

“These extremists are often labelled as Islamists which, on reflection, is totally unfair on Muslims in general and we must make sure that our language reflects this.”

You can read the interview in full HERE

Meanwhile a prominent Doncaster Conservative has slammed Mr Anderson – dubbing him a “plastic Tory.”

James Hart, the party’s candidate at the last mayoral election shared an archive picture of former Labour Party member Mr Anderson with a banner supporting Jeremy Corbyn and wrote on X, formerly Twitter: “Not sure what all the fuss about someone who wanted JC (Jeremy Corbyn) to be Prime Minster being kicked our of the party is.

"Should never have been selected in the first place. Plastic Tory.”