Lee Anderson: Bibby Stockholm barge? I’ve stayed in worse in Skegness

Lee Anderson has doubled down on his incendiary claim that small boat arrivals should “f*** off back to France” by saying he had stayed in far worse places than the Bibby Stockholm barge.

The deputy Tory chair said he had had a “lovely time” in downmarket hotels in Skegness and other seaside resorts, so asylum seekers forced onto the vessel should not complain.

“I have stopped in worse accommodation in Skegness, in Blackpool, in Scarborough, in Whitby and all around the country,” he told GB News. “And did I moan? No, I went for a nice weekend, had a lovely time and didn’t complain to anybody.”

Mr Anderson refused to apologise for his “f*** off” remarks which have sparked outrage from the opposition and unease from Tory moderates – insisting on Thursday that unhappy asylum seekers should “go back where they came from”.

The initial row was sparked after 20 of those set to be housed by the Home Office in the highly controversial barge in Dorset were granted a last-minute reprieve after legal challenges.

The first group of asylum seekers who have been placed on board have since spoken out about the prison-like conditions, with one person describing it as “like Alcatraz”.

“Anyone that is complaining about the standard of luxury accommodation, I stand by my words – they should go back to where they came from,” Mr Anderson said on Thursday.

The deputy chair said he was “very angry” about the latest figures showed that the number of arrivals on small boats has topped 100,000 since 2018.

“I’m very angry about the number. Very angry … every single day when I see these illegal migrants,” said Mr Anderson, who criticised the government this week for having “failed” to stop migrants making the crossings.

The deputy chair also admitted that he sometimes thought “we should ignore the courts” – a reference to the ruling against the bid to send people on a one-way flight to Rwanda – before checking himself and conceding that obeying the law was “the British way”.

The SNP’s home affairs spokesperson Alison Thewliss said Mr Anderson’s latest comments “add to the list of despicable things” that he has said. “Such a sweeping statement oversimplifies a complex and humanitarian issue,” she said.

One former Tory minister told The Independent that Mr Anderson’s comments make the party look “chaotic and unsophisticated – which puts Rishi in a slight mess”. Another ex-minister referred to Mr Anderson as a “fascist” who “does not represent the same party as me”.

Nigel Farage told The Independent: “Lee is reflecting what millions and millions feel – it’s just unusual from a deputy chairman of the Conservative Party.”

The former Brexit Party leader said Mr Sunak will be happy with the row because “it’s a Tory party tactic to say, ‘If we speak like an awful lot of people think, they’ll think we’re on their side,’” Mr Farage added. “But the fact is they are delivering nothing, absolutely nothing.”

It comes as Tories on the right push for Mr Sunak to commit to leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) to reduce the chances of being thwarted by the Strasbourg court that judges human rights cases.

Eight cabinet ministers are among the senior Tories prepared to put leaving the ECHR at the heart of the next manifesto if deportation flights are blocked by the courts, according to The Daily Telegraph.

But senior Tory David Davis said: “Calls to leave the ECHR are from those who clearly do not understand the basis of the problem.” The former minister said the “primary problem is an operational one inside the Home Office” – Suella Braverman’s department, which is responsible for clearing the asylum backlog.

Pulling out of the ECHR would put the UK at odds with most European nations, and could also cause complications in relation to the operation of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland and the post-Brexit trade deal with the EU.

Asked if he thought the Tories were serious about quitting the ECHR, Mr Farage said: “Very few MPs think we should leave the ECHR. They might get desperate enough to put it in the manifesto – but they won’t mean it. I don’t believe for a moment they’d do it.”