Lee Anderson disgusted at what he finds in Blackpool alley and insists 'he's not racist'

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has demanded he “wants his country back” as he blames multiculturalism for a filthy, litter-strewn alley.

Anderson - MP for Ashfield - was visiting Blackpool when he made the comments which he insisted in a post on social media weren’t racist or bigoted.

He filmed himself walking down an alleyway in the deprived Lancashire town and said that it had become “filthy” after being “flooded with migrants living in houses of multiple occupancy.”

The controversial politician was the deputy chairman of the Conservative party before having the whip suspended for comments he made about "Islamists" controlling London and its Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan.

He said: “I’m going to take you down this alley. Now bear in mind this street here would have probably been 50 or 60 years ago probably full of traditional British families.

“Kids would be playing in this alley, there would be washing strung from house to house, it would have been clean. You know? Sort of poor housing but working-class people, very respectful of the area they live in.

“Now this area has been flooded with migrants living in houses of multiple occupancy. Just look at the state of it as we walk down. Can you see there’s nappies, there’s food, there’s all sorts of filth. It’s absolutely disgraceful.”

However, he insisted that the comments weren’t racist saying before the “woke, wet, weak left get into a tizz about playing the race card, the bigot card” that he’d struggled to find an English voice in the area.

He added that “multiculturalism has failed” before rounding off the video by saying: ”I want my country back.”

In an accompanying written post on social media platform X he said that he's spoken to a lady that said the "Romany community started to move in" and that "the British have moved out."

The clip has now been viewed more than a million times and ‘liked’ almost 7,000 times.

But not everyone agreed with his comments - many hitting back at Anderson for criticising the traveller community.

One said: “Unlike you, I was born in Blackpool and raised just outside. Blackpool (like many other seaside towns) declined because of budget air travel, not the traveller community, you massive melt!”

Another said: “Is this just an attack on ‘travellers’ and the Romany community or a blatant dog whistle to your Reform voters.”

But there was support for Anderson too.

One said: “Happening to every city/town.”

“Same story in Croydon, Bromley, Ipswich, Norwich. Immigration is a huge failed experiment,” said another.