Downing Street backs Tory deputy chair over ‘back to France’ comments

No 10 says justice secretary was speaking for government in supporting Lee Anderson's remarks on Bibby Stockholm asylum seekers

Downing Street has backed the Conservative deputy chair, Lee Anderson, after he said people seeking asylum should fuck off back to France" if they did not like being housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge.

Anderson was criticised by opposition MPs and an anti-racism campaign group on Tuesday after telling the Daily Express that people have had enough" of the transfer of asylum seekers to the barge being delayed by safety concerns and legal challenges.