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Lee Anderson is the Conservative MP for Ashfield, Nottinghamshire.
British Reform leader Richard Tice has denied claims that Conservative Party deputy leader Lee Anderson was offered money to leave the party.
The Sunday Times reported Mr Anderson told Conservative Party activists that he had been offered “significant amounts of money” to join “a party that starts with an R”.
Mr Theis told the BBC he had had “a number of discussions with Conservative MPs” but no money was offered.
Reform UK was founded in 2018 with support from former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
Mr Farage was founded from the ashes of the Brexit Party, of which he once led, and supports tax cuts and “net zero” immigration, meaning the number of immigrants equal to the number of people legally allowed to enter the UK. There is.
A leaked audio recording released by the Sunday Times shows Mr Anderson saying: “There’s a political party that starts with the letter R and they’ve offered me a lot of money to join that party. It’s about money,” he was heard saying. money. “
Next he talks about reform.
The newspaper said the comments were made by the Conservative MP for Mr Ashfield at a South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association event last month.
The BBC said Mr Anderson contacted a senior Conservative party about the allegations in February, who in turn contacted the party leader.
However, Tice denied the allegations.
Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, he said: He was furious at the failure to stop the boats and furious at the opening of the border to mass immigration.
“Of course, I keep these discussions completely confidential, but let me be absolutely clear: no cash or money is being offered in any way. What is being offered is a chance to change the shape of the discussion. .”
Mr Anderson has been contacted for comment.
The outspoken MP, who was appointed deputy leader of the Conservative Party in February, has often attracted attention for his views on issues such as immigration and poverty.
Earlier this month, after the Supreme Court ruled that the government’s Rwanda plan was illegal, he suggested ministers should “ignore the law” and start sending asylum seekers there.
