Lee Anderson Quotes

The Tory party's picked me for a reason: I'm an ex-miner in a mining town [...] I campaigned to Leave. They know my history. It's easier for somebody to vote for me if they see me as one of them. It probably makes it acceptable to vote Tory if it's an ex-pitman – rather than some posh Tory boy.

This week I’ve been called lard a--- pot belly MP. I've been called a fat b------ all over Twitter. Most of them are hidden profiles, keyboard cowards.
I used to watch Popeye as a kid. Every time he had his tin of spinach, he got stronger and that's what it is like for me every time I got one of these horrible comments. My haters are my motivators.

I would be in favour of [using] the Falkland Islands. The only way we will put these people off is by giving them the message that if you come here you are going to be sent 8,000 miles away.

[I]t was them that gave me the job [...] It was them that financially backed me, it's them that's protected me, it's them that's given me a political home [...] So why would I knife them in the back?

All throughout my time in the Labour Party, every meeting I went to, I always had my rant [...] They always used to say: "Why don’t you go and join the Tory party?" This went on for years. And then I did.

There's not been a turning point. We all know that sometimes politicians are about as trustworthy as journalists in what they say and do.

I don't actually believe that the Islamists have got control of our country, but what I do believe is they've got control of [Sadiq] Khan, and they've got control of London.

[On Tim Davie, BBC director-general, who has advocated for diversity in recruitment] I wrote to him and pointed out that since the BBC started having director-generals in 1927, they've all been white. I asked, why don't you resign and give the job to a black person? He never responded.

For the first time in my life I will not be watching my beloved England team whilst they are supporting a political movement whose core principles aim to undermine our very way of life.

[After recalling his suggestion to Boris Johnson around 2021] But I don't think it's fair on the Falkland Islands to be honest; they don’t want these illegal migrants going down there. There's a better option: we can keep them on British soil, if you like. We've got the Orkneys or some remote Scottish island.
I know it's a bit parky [cold] up there this time of year. But if people are genuinely escaping war or persecution then a nice Scottish island with a few outbuildings would be suitable. This is a beautiful country. Parts of Scotland are a 'go to' destination, the remote islands – I'd like to be able to afford a place up there.
If we can get some accommodation up there, keep these people safe – these people want to be safe, they're fleeing so-called persecution from these war-torn countries. If we can find an island in the Orkneys or up there that's got no one on there to start off with, put some decent accommodation on, then it's job done.

These people come across the Channel in small boats ... if they don't like the conditions they are housed in here then they should go back to France, or better not come at all in the first place.

[Ten years ago (presumably in 2013), his son began studies at the University of Sheffield] I didn't see him for months, he came back different. He had long hair, he had a beard. His clothes were different, a different attitude and outlook on life. I thought – "my goodness, Harry, what's happened to you."
He sat down with me on the settee, he put his arm on my hand and he says: "Dad, I've been away for a few months now and I've come back and I'm not the Harry that went away all those months ago. I'm different now, I'm a different person."

[On a clash with anti-Brexit protester, Steve Bray.] He had a go at my weight. This is a man who was quite clearly out of condition. I'm trying to do something about it, but here is a challenge [...] He is a nuisance. And I've got a challenge for him: Meet me in the boxing ring. Let's do three rounds. And if I win, he never protests out there again. And if he wins, I'll go and protest with him.

Anderson thinks he understands Britain, and in some ways he does. But what he's missed is our saddest trait: feeling ashamed to ask for help. Hardly anyone is going to a food bank as a jolly, and when there are now more food banks in the UK than branches of McDonald's, it's clear where the demand really is in Britain today.

If you are wrong, apologising is not a sign of weakness but a sign of strength. But when you think you are right you should never apologise because to do so would be a sign of weakness.