Jess Phillips Urges Rishi Sunak To Deselect Liz Truss Over ‘Far Right’ Podcast Appearance
Phillips said that aside from Benjamin’s “misogynistic views” that he was a proponent of The Great Replacement theory. (Screengrab via YouTube)
Labour MP Jess Phillips called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to remove former Prime Minister Liz Truss as a Conservative general election candidate ahead of a scheduled interview on the Lotus Eaters web series.
Truss is set to be interviewed by podcast host Connor Tomlinson, a regular contributor to TalkTV and GB News, on Tomlinson Talks, part of a network that was founded by right-wing influencer Carl Benjamin.
Benjamin, who goes by the online moniker Sargon of Akkad, tweeted Phillips in 2019: “I wouldn’t even rape you.” He went on to tweet that “with enough pressure I might cave.”
Phillips expressed deep concerns in her letter to Sunak and published via X on Wednesday.
The MP wrote: “The impact men like Benjamin have on politics cannot be understated. Men like Benjamin make female MPs live in fear, while discouraging women from standing in future, weakening our democracy in the process.”
Phillips said that aside from Benjamin’s “misogynistic views” that he was a proponent of The Great Replacement theory, which alleges white populations are being made extinct by mass immigration, and promotes “fringe conspiracy theories” about elites seeking to control society through the World Economic Forum.
She continued, “Anyone willing to appear on this hateful platform is not suitable to be a candidate for any political party. Even Reform UK deselected one of its candidates after his harmful views and work as a content creator for Lotus Eaters was exposed.”
She added: “This action, which I do not take lightly, will bring abuse and threats to my door, but I have to stand up for what I think is right.”
Benjamin responded on X, defending himself against Phillips’ accusations. He said: “Phillips tells outright lies about my character. I have a long-standing record of activism to promote awareness of violence against women and girls. To call Lotus Eaters a ‘hateful’ platform is to have had no engagement with it.”
He blasted Phillips as a “partisan socialist” and dismissed his tweet as “a joke.” Benjamin added that his “opposition to immigration generally is rooted in the danger it presents to women and girls” and that he was “concerned about the safety of [his] wife and two daughters.”
Truss, who has been the Conservative MP for South West Norfolk since 2010, was recently re-selected to contest the seat in the upcoming general election.
She became the shortest-serving Prime Minister in UK history, resigning after just 44 days in office in 2022, but has worked to rehabilitate her public image by appealing to the populist right and accusing the “deep state” of rooting her out during her tenure.
