Lee Anderson has had the Conservative whip suspended following his widely criticised claim that London mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by “Islamists”,

A spokesperson for the party’s chief whip Simon Hart said the decision had been made following the former Tory deputy chairman’s “refusal to apologise” for the remarks made on Friday.

Pressure had been mounting on Rishi Sunak to take action over the comments from the Ashfield MP, with Mr Khan saying the “deafening silence” of the British prime minister and his UK Cabinet amounted to condoning racism.

A spokesperson for Mr Hart said: “Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the Chief Whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP.”