Labour cuts support for by-election candidates amid Israel-Hamas comments
The Labour party withdrew support for its Rochdale by-election hopeful Azhar Ali after information came to light around comments made following Hamas’s October 7 attack.
According to records obtained by the Mail on Sunday, Ali had told a meeting of Labour politicians that Israel had allowed Hamas to attack, saying, “They deliberately took the security off. They allowed … that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.”
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has since killed over 28,000 people in Gaza.
Blueprints reviewed by the New York Times in December 2023 found that “Israeli officials obtained Hamas’s battle plan for the Oct. 7 terrorist attack more than a year before it happened”. Around 40 pages of emails, intelligence interviews and documents, known as Jericho Wall, “outlined, point by point, exactly the kind of devastating invasion that led to the deaths of about 1,200 people.”
Though Labour had initially said it would continue to support Ali, a follow-up statement on Monday said, “Following new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali coming to light today, the Labour party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as our candidate in the Rochdale by-election.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has been under pressure to eliminate allegations of antisemitism within the party after the issue rose to the forefront of politics during his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure.
The Conservatives had called on Labour to suspend Ali and to withdraw campaign support, as Sunak argued on GB News that “the Labour party hasn’t changed”.
A second parliamentary candidate was suspended the following day. The candidate for Hyndburn, Graham Jones, was suspended after a recording emerged of him saying Britons who fight for the Israel Defense forces should be ‘locked up’.
Throughout the Israel-Hamas conflict, what crosses the line of antisemitism, or is important discussions about the atrocities against displaced Palestinians and war tactics that violate international humanitarian law, has been strongly debated. Many media outlets have been pressured by the Israeli government over their coverage throughout the war – which is why we’re here, to unpick the truth and leave the decisions to you.
Let’s check out the headlines.
Fresh Labour chaos as anti-Semitism consumes party… again: Starmer hunts for more attendees at Rochdale meeting after two would-be MPs are suspended over attacks on Israel – as senior frontbencher insists it will boot out those ‘not fit for office’
Starmer urged to suspend councillors at meeting that heard Israel comments
The Labour Party is sicker than it realises –
Starmer has failed to root out the anti-Semitism given free rein by the Corbyn leadership he legitimised
Labour suspends second candidate Graham Jones after recording emerges
Labour meltdown as lead over Tories plummets after Gaza crisis and U-turns
Labour in crisis after second suspension over Israel comments
Labour suspends parliamentary candidate Graham Jones over ‘unacceptable’ Israel comments
