Britain's ruling Conservatives on Saturday suspended their former deputy chairman from the parliamentary party, after he refused to apologise for saying London's Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by Islamists.

Pressure had been growing on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Tories to act following lawmaker Lee Anderson's controversial remarks Friday, which have been widely condemned as racist and Islamophobic.

"Following his refusal to apologise for comments made yesterday, the chief whip has suspended the Conservative whip from Lee Anderson MP," a spokesperson for Tory lawmaker Simon Hart announced.

Hart's chief whip position makes him responsible for internal Conservative Party discipline.

On the right-wing GB News channel, Anderson claimed "Islamists" had "got control" of Khan, who was the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital when first elected in London in 2016.

"He's actually given our capital city away to his mates," added Anderson, the Tory MP for a seat in central England.

His remarks prompted criticism from across the political spectrum.

The Muslim Council of Britain said Anderson's comments were "disgusting" and extremist.

Anderson, who will now sit as an independent lawmaker in parliament, said late Saturday that he understood his comments had put Hart and Sunak in a "difficult position" but stopped short of apologising.

Khan and Labour leader Keir Starmer, who both branded Anderson's outburst "racist" and "Islamophobic", also directed their criticism at Sunak, who has not commented on the incident.

Khan slammed the "deafening silence" from the Conservative leader and his senior ministers, arguing that it amounted to condoning racism.