Politics latest: Rishi Sunak under pressure to address Lee Anderson suspension as Tory MPs label it ‘final nail in the party’s coffin’

Next with Transport Secretary Mark Harper, we turned to Lee Anderson having been suspended from the Tory party after saying he believed “Islamists” had “got control” of Sadiq Khan, the London mayor.

The deputy PM refused to say if Mr Anderson’s comments were racist when asked by Sky News yesterday, and so presenter Kay Burley asked Mr Harper what the Ashfield MP has done wrong.

The cabinet minister replied: “He said things about Sadiq Khan that weren’t true and that were quite wrong to say.

“He was given the opportunity to retract those comments and to apologise for them. He didn’t do so, so very clear and decisive leadership was taken and the whip’s been removed.”

Asked what he has to do to be welcomed back into the party, Mr Harper said he hopes the Ashfield MP will “reflect on what he said” and “retract those comments and apologise”.

The minister said there are “many” reasons to criticise the London mayor, but “you don’t have to make anything up” about him.

Pushed again on what he has to say to return to the party, Mr Harper refused to comment, saying it’s a matter for the chief whip.

Asked if Mr Anderson’s comments were racist, he said: “Well it was wrong, and I’m not going to get into arguing about the rights and wrongs of what he said.”

He added: “Wrong is a very strong word in my book.”

Pushed repeatedly on if Mr Anderson’s comments were racist, Mr Harper repeated the same answer three times.