We're hearing the prime minister on BBC Radio Lincolnshire now.

Sunak's asked again about the government's new transport investment plans.

Presenter Scott Dalton asks whether the government is just putting back money it previously took away from the county council.

Sunak says this is money that came from his decision on HS2.

He says the government has taken every penny that would have been spent on HS2 to spend on transport in the North and the Midlands.

If you want to know more about HS2, you can read here.

Sunak's interview on Radio Humberside is over. And now he is now giving another interview to Radio Linconshire.

Again, you can listen by clicking Live button at the top of this page.

Asked whether Sunak can make a promise that hate of any kind will be addressed on the same level by the government, the prime minister says, "of course".

He adds that racism and prejudice "of any kind is completely unacceptable and we must stamp it out".

He says that he is "proud" to be the first British Asian prime minister but prouder still that "it wasn't a big deal".

Now turning to the Anderson row, Radio Humberside's Kofi Smiles asks Sunak whether there is a "hierarchy of hate" in this country, alluding to Sunak's condemnations of antisemitism in recent weeks and his decision to not address the Anderson row directly until today.

Sunak says that's not a fair characterisation at all, and says racism and prejudice is not acceptable in any form.

He goes on to say that the UK is the most successful multi-ethnic democracy in the world, and that "we have a way of doing things and respecting everyone" that works.

Now on to Sunak's Radio Humberside interview.

Sunak says reinvesting HS2 cash into local transport "is a better use of money."

He said that would allow for local areas to "improve journey times, reliability, capacity".

Before we bring you the latest lines from Sunak on Radio Humberside, here's some more from his interview a few minutes ago on Radio York.

Sunak said scrapping HS2 benefits the North and the Midlands.

"Last year I made a decision on HS2 and what that's done is free up considerable funding, every penny of which is being reinvested in the North and Midlands," he said.

He said it is now "for local areas to decide how they want to spend that money".

Asked about criticism about the government's plans from Labour, Sunak said the opposition would continue to "snipe from the sidelines and that's because they don't have a plan."

Rishi Sunak is next up on Radio Humberside.

You can listen by clicking the Live button at the top of this page.

Radio York's Georgey Spanswick begun the interview with Sunak by saying questions on the Anderson row needed to be gotten out of the way first.

That now seems done and the two have turned to discussing HS2.

The government has been outlining how it will reallocate money set aside for HS2 in the north.

• You can read more about that here.

Sunak is asked how it would affect the campaign before the elections.

He says that's not what it's about.

"In a situation like this it’s important that we maintain high standards and unfortunately the words that Lee chose weren’t acceptable. They were wrong and that’s why it was right that he was suspended."

Sunak tells the BBC, that Anderson's choice of words were "wrong" and "unacceptable" particularly as "tensions are running high" in the country.

He said his priority was "to take the heat out of this situation" and that's why Anderson had the whip removed.

There are no Islamophobic tendencies in the Conservative Party, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak tells BBC Radio York.

He says it's "incumbent" on parliamentarians not to inflame tensions.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is about to speak to several local radio stations - starting with BBC Radio York in a few minutes.

He has been facing pressure to speak out about the comments Lee Anderson made.

You can listen by clicking the Live button at the top of this page.

We've just heard from Transport Secretary Mark Harper on the issue, and he says Lee Anderson's comments were wrong.

"I think there’s lots of things we can criticise Sadiq Khan over, but what Lee Anderson said about him was not correct and it was wrong for him to say it," Harper told BBC Breakfast.

Anderson did not retract his comments and apologise when given the opportunity, and so losing the party whip was "firm and decisive leadership from the prime minister and chief whip," Harper added.

He told the programme he hoped Anderson would reflect on the consequences of his comments over the coming days, but would not comment on whether he felt Anderson would be welcome back into the party if he did apologise.

"I'm not going to tell the chief whip how to do his job," Harper said.

Image source, PA Media

The Labour party's chairwoman has told the BBC that comments directed at Sadiq Khan over the weekend were a result of Islamophobia.

Anneliese Dodds, who is also the Labour MP for Oxford East, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that comments made by Lee Anderson were, "clearly not to do with who Sadiq Khan is", adding "it was a slur that was directed at him because of Islamophobia".

Dodds said she has urged the Conservative Party chairs to take action against Islamophobia in the party several times over the past few years, saying: "This isn't something that popped up five minutes ago, it is a continuing concern".

Image source, Press Association

Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, a member of the House of Lords and a former co-chairwoman of the Conservative Party has said that Anderson’s comments were a “deliberate attack on Sadiq Khan”.

“It’s an attempt to stigmatise, stereotype and silence British Muslims and stop younger generations of British Muslims from entering public life,” she wrote on X.

She said that not following the standards they set for Labour would we hypocrisy: “The standards we hold Labour to on racism are the standards we should hold ourselves to on racism, to do anything else makes us hypocrites”.

The prime minister released a statement on Saturday after Tory MP Lee Anderson was suspended from his party.

Sunak did not directly address the remarks, but warned of an "explosion in prejudice and antisemitism" since the attacks by Hamas on Israel on 7 October.

"The events of recent weeks are but the latest in an emerging pattern which should not be tolerated," he added.

"And in Parliament this week a very dangerous signal was sent that this sort of intimidation works." The PM is now under increasing pressure to directly address Anderson’s comments.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

The prime minister is set to speak to the media several times this morning, and will be asked the same questions that his deputy Oliver Dowden faced at the weekend.

Those questions are, firstly, does he think the comments were Islamophobic, or just insensitive?

And secondly, if Lee Anderson now apologised, might he be able to get the party whip back?

Until recently, Anderson wasn’t just a Conservative MP - he was deputy chairman of the Conservative Party. That’s a role appointed by Rishi Sunak, so there’s also a question of judgement for the prime minister there.

Image source, PA Media

On Friday, former Tory deputy chairman Lee Anderson told GB News that "Islamists" had "got control" of the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

On Saturday, Anderson was suspended from the Conservative party after "refusing to apologise" for those comments.

Khan responded, describing Anderson's remarks as, "Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist".

The London mayor added he was "unclear why Rishi Sunak and members of his Cabinet" were not calling out the remarks or condemning the comments.

Posting his reaction to losing the whip on social media Anderson said: "Following a call with the chief whip, I understand the difficult position that I have put both he and the prime minister in with regard to my comments."

The Muslim Council of Britain said it welcomed Anderson's suspension and added, "The Conservative Party has an Islamophobia problem. They need to own up to it."

Tiffany Wertheimer
Live reporter

Image source, PA Media

Good morning and welcome to our live page.

Lee Anderson, an MP for Ashfield since 2019, was suspended from the Conservative Party at the weekend, after he refused to apologise for his remarks.

As a reminder, Anderson said that “Islamists have got control of Khan and they've got control of London, and they've got control of Starmer as well."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the comments were "Islamophobic, anti-Muslim and racist".

PM Rishi Sunak will chair a cabinet meeting in Yorkshire and the Humber today, and is facing calls to respond to the fury.

So stay with us as we bring you Sunak’s comments and all the reaction.