MP Lee Anderson: New deputy Tory chairman clashes with radio presenter

The new deputy chairman of the Conservative Party has clashed with a radio presenter over accusations of dishonesty.

MP Lee Anderson was asked by BBC radio presenter Verity Cowley about a video of him setting up a doorstep encounter during the 2019 election campaign.

In response, he asked the presenter 10 times if she had ever told a lie.

The BBC chose to play the full interview after the MP raised concerns over the editing process.

Mr Anderson was chosen by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to be the party's deputy chairman, a role which traditionally takes a lead in spreading election messages during campaigns.

The Ashfield MP made headlines last year for saying people needed to learn how to cook and budget "properly", rather than use food banks.

He argued there was "not this massive use for food banks in this country", and those who knew how to cook and budget could make meals for 30p a day.

Cowley, who presents the drive-time show on BBC Radio Nottingham, spoke to Mr Anderson during a pre-recorded interview on Wednesday.

After speaking about his new position, the interview turned to previous comments he had made about food bank use.

Mr Anderson said he would challenge the assumption anyone earning £30,000 to £35,000 needed to use a food bank.

Cowley said: "Even though nurses, firefighters, people who've got jobs are saying 'I need to use this' you don't believe them?"

"No," Mr Anderson said.

"You bring them to me Verity, you get a fireman and a nurse in Ashfield and bring them to me and we'll do it on the show.

"I'd challenge you right now to find me a firefighter or a nurse in Ashfield that's using a food bank and I'll give you a year to find one.

"If you do find one, we'll work together with that person to find out why they need to use a food bank.

"Anyone earning over £32,500 in Ashfield using a [food] bank needs to come and see me but as yet, nobody has ever contacted me. They are the facts."

"They say I'm controversial but it's the media that stokes controversy by picking up on these sorts of stories," he added.

The pre-recorded interview then moves on to the incident in the run-up to the 2019 general election.

In 2019, Mr Anderson, while out with journalist Michael Crick, takes a phone call on the campaign trail.

The MP returns to Crick to say the call related to a number of leaflets that had arrived at his house.

But a microphone picks up Mr Anderson telling a voter not to tell the film crew he is a friend when they knock on his door.

"There is a worry by some that you might be a bit dishonest," Cowley says.

"I'm talking about that video that you did where you asked a friend to pose as an anti-Labour swing voter."

Mr Anderson then asks Cowley if she has ever told a lie a number of times.

"I've never asked somebody to pretend to be something they're not just to further my campaign," Cowley adds.

Cowley then says humans tell false truths to protect people.

"So you're a liar, so you're dishonest," Mr Anderson replies.

"We've established you're dishonest and you tell lies.

"Let's talk about that video because three weeks afterwards, I was voted in as the first-ever Conservative MP [in Ashfield], beating Labour by 8,000 votes.

"So that's what the people of Ashfield think and that's all that matters to me."

Elsewhere, The Spectator has published an interview with Mr Anderson in which he expresses support for reintroducing the death penalty arguing "nobody has ever committed a crime after being executed".

He says the death penalty could be acceptable in cases where the perpetrators are clearly identified.

Parliament suspended the death penalty in 1965, other than in Northern Ireland, before later abolishing it completely across the UK.

The Conservative Party said Mr Anderson's interview had been given before he was appointed to his new role, and his stance on the death penalty was not the view of the government.

But Labour accused Rishi Sunak of not being strong enough to stand up to what it called "Lee Anderson's nonsense".

Fellow Tory MP and minister for children Claire Coutinho has expressed her support for Mr Anderson.

She told LBC Radio she was "a big fan" but did not back his calls for the return of the death penalty.

"What I think people respond to when it comes to Lee is he does speak his mind," she said. "And I think it's really important that we have people who have lots of different opinions.

"And that's one of the things I like about the Conservative Party frankly, because we are very good at living alongside each other even when we disagree."

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