Politics

Tory MP repeatedly refers to anti-Brexit campaigner as a 'tramp' during tense exchange

Tory MP repeatedly refers to anti-Brexit campaigner as a 'tramp' during tense exchange
Tory MP Lee Anderson tells Brexit protester he is 'nothing but a ...
Indy

A Conservative MP got into a tense fight with an anti-Brexit campaigner, and repeatedly called him a "tramp".

Lee Anderson - the MP who had a hissy fit and missed the Euros over taking the knee last summer - got into a squabble with prominent campaigner Steve Bray after the latter approached him outside parliament and asked him if he would still be supporting "liar" Boris Johnson.

"At least I've got a job to lose, you haven't got one," Anderson said.

"My job's annoying and holding people like you to account," Bray replied.

Anderson said: "You're nothing but a parasite. We've established that. You're a scrounger. Why are you here dressed like a tramp?"

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

Asked whether he was being "derogatory" towards people without jobs, Anderson said: "I'll rephrase that: If you smartened yourself up you'd make a good tramp."

The two then argued about why Bray is funded to protest, and Bray said his supporters "cannot stand liars, cheats, charlatans, fraudsters" in office.

"You are in office Lee Anderson, and you lie time and time again, and the people are sick of you," Bray said, before calling Johnson a "lying a**ehole".

Then Anderson, who was also filmed calling Bray a parasite in July 2021 in a separate argument walked away, telling Bray to "get a job".

Speaking to The Independent after the encounter, Bray - who regularly appears outside parliament and has photobombed the likes of Michael Gove to make political points - called Anderson "derogatory". He said: "Lee Anderson is very derogatory about those less fortunate in life, the fact he tries to imply I am a tramp and on benefits is insulting those people that actually are.

"This is what the Tories generally feel about those without wealth, they feel that they are superior. The reality is that they are the lowest of the low, to lie , cheat and steal from the people they are supposed to serve is the true value of their worth!"

Ouch.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)