SENIOR Tory MP Lee Anderson has defended the controversial sketch show Little Britain from accusations of racism – claiming the programme is “British comedy at its best”.
The deputy chairman of the Conservative Party weighed in on the ongoing row over Little Britain remaining on BBC iPlayer with sections featuring blackface removed.
The row was reignited this week when a study for the media watchdog Ofcom found viewers were shocked by a scene which had remained in the programme, in which an Asian person was described as being “the ching-chong Chinaman”.
Anderson said the show was “not racist” and suggested people who did not like it should “go out walking, get some fresh air”.
Speaking to GB News, the MP said: “Little Britain is hilarious and something I used to watch with my kids. In fact I bought my son Harry the box set when he was ten years old.
“I absolutely loved the programme and it’s not racist.
“When you tell a joke, someone else, or something else is always a butt of every joke. That’s what makes it funny.
“I think these people at Ofcom, I don’t know who they select to watch these programmes, they need to get a grip.
“This is still funny. It's not dated. It's not racist. It's just British comedy at its best. It’s okay to offend people; offence is taken, it’s not given.
“People need some sort of sense of humour transplant.
"They can say that Carry On films are offensive, Benny Hill’s offensive, Dad’s Army’s offensive, Rising Damp’s offensive. Get a grip, get a life.
“If you don’t like it, go out walking, get some fresh air.”
Ofcom said participants in its study felt the sketch was “explicitly racist” and some wanted stronger warnings about the language involved while others felt it should be taken off BBC iPlayer altogether as the blackface sketches had been.
Anderson has himself been accused of racism, having been twice previously warned about antisemitism.
He undertook training from the Antisemitism Policy Trust in 2021 after he was found to be a member of a Facebook group which spread antisemitic conspiracy theories about the Jewish investor George Soros.
Anderson was among the signatories of an open letter in 2020 accusing the National Trust of promoting a “cultural Marxist dogma”, prompting the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism to issue a briefing to Tory MPs.
It warned them that the phrase “cultural Marxism” was considered by some to be a “dog-whistle for the far-right”.
He has also previously accused Travellers of being thieves and was accused by the anti-extremism charity Hope Not Hate of fuelling anti-migrant sentiment when he said asylum seekers who did not want to be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge should “f*** off back to France”.
