Yet another U-turn...
The Tories are known for their embarrassing U-turns, but even by their own standards, the latest U-turn by Lee Anderson is quite something!
Less than 10 days ago, on January 16, Anderson quit as deputy chairman of the Conservative Party over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda bill, saying that he wanted to vote for amendments to toughen the bill up, which already undermines both domestic and international law.
In a joint letter with Tory MP Brendan Clarke-Smith, Anderson said that they had previously argued that “safeguards” were needed to ensure the legislation was “watertight”.
“It is therefore important in terms of credibility that we are consistent with this,” they added.
Anderson eventually abstained on the Safety of Rwanda Bill and now in a humiliating U-turn, has told the Daily Telegraph that he should have “voted for” the bill – and that he wants his old job back.
“I thought that I probably should have voted for it because if the Bill would have been killed on that night, there was nothing else, there was no Plan B,” he said.
“There was nothing else. It was either vote for a Bill that might succeed or vote against a Bill and have nothing.”
Sunak, himself a master of U-turns, may well have no problem re-appointing Anderson to the post of deputy chair.
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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