The Lee Anderson saga that has dominated British politics in recent days has taken an unlikely twist.
Anderson had the Tory whip removed over the weekend after he chose not to apologise for saying “Islamists” had “control” over London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan, who is Muslim.
The incident has escalated into a major row over how the government has handled the issue involving the former Conservative deputy chairman, and raised questions about whether Anderson might defect to Reform UK, formerly known as the Brexit Party.
GB News political editor, Christopher Hope, reported the summit took place “at a Holiday Inn hotel, at junction 28 of the M1 in South Normanton, Derbyshire on Sunday, 24 hours after he lost the Tory whip”.
The detailled location had many people on X thinking the same thing – specifically, they recalled the I’m Alan Partridge series set at The Linton Travel Tavern, where Steve Coogan’s character is faced with celebrity purgatory as he pleads for his talk show to be renewed while living “equidistant between Norwich and London”.
Earlier, Anderson said prime minister Rishi Sunak made a “mistake” in stripping him of the Conservative whip when speaking to Channel 5 News.
On Monday, pressed during a GB News interview on whether he would join Reform UK, Anderson declined to comment but said he had “been on a political journey”.
He said: “You’ll say Lee Anderson rules out/doesn’t rule out joining the Reform party, so I’m making no comment on my future.”
GB News pays Anderson a £100,000 salary, on top of his £86,584 MP pay, to present a show on its network.