Lee Anderson told to apologise after swearing at parliamentary security officer

Reform MP Lee Anderson has been ordered to apologise to the Commons for breaking bullying and harassment rules after a standards watchdog found he twice swore at a security guard when his parliamentary pass did not work.

Mr Anderson allegedly told the officer “f*** off, everyone opens the door to me, you are the only one” when he was told he needed to have his card checked at the gates to the Westminster estate.

When the guard repeated that the pass had to be examined, Mr Anderson approached them before saying “f*** you, I have a train to catch” and walking out of the search post.

A complaint about the incident on November 3 was upheld by Parliament’s standards commissioner.

Appealed

Mr Anderson initially appealed against the finding to the Independent Expert Panel, but his case was dismissed on the basis that it “failed to raise any substantive grounds”.

Since then, he has “accepted the commissioner’s finding that he had sworn at the complainant and that his behaviour had been a breach of the bullying and harassment policy”, the panel said.

It added: “He had also expressed a desire to apologise.

“The sub-panel accepted Mr Anderson’s evidence that he had faced ‘challenging personal circumstances’ on the day in question and his ‘unacceptable behaviour’ was ‘not planned or premeditated’.”

Behaviour code

In its findings, the watchdog highlighted the “power imbalance” between the prominent MP and the security officer and noted the importance laid out in Parliament’s behaviour code not to “abuse” his influence or authority.

Mr Anderson should apologise both to the complainant in writing and to the House of Commons by way of a personal statement, the watchdog concluded.

At the time of the incident, the MP had been deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, a position from which he later resigned to vote against the government on an amendment to its Rwanda asylum plan.

Mr Anderson was later stripped of the Tory whip in February after refusing to apologise for stating that “Islamists” had “got control” of London Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan, and in March defected to Reform UK.

He has served as the party’s chief whip since July.

Mr Anderson and Reform UK have been contacted for comment.