Labour withdraws support for Rochdale candidate over Gaza war remarks
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Labour MPs have called the continued support of Ali by the leadership a "huge and disappointing shift" from their promise of having "zero tolerance" for "antisemitism".
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Labour candidate for Rochdale, Azhar Ali (second right), is joined by Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham (right) in Rochdale as he launches his campaign for the upcoming Rochdale by-election, triggered by the death of Sir Tony Lloyd on February 7, 2024. (AP)
The British Labour Party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali, its candidate in this month's Rochdale byelection, following his comments on "Israel".
Labour is unable to replace Ali with another candidate under election rules because the time for doing so expired on February 2. He will run as a Labour candidate on the ballot, but if elected, he will not wield the party whip and will instead serve as an independent MP.
A recording was leaked to the Daily Mail in which Ali was saying, “The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel 10 days earlier … Americans warned them a day before [that] … there’s something happening. They deliberately took the security off, they allowed … that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.”
According to Labour insiders, activists in Rochdale were directed by party headquarters to suspend leafleting and social media activities on Ali's behalf from 5.30 pm on Monday.
Senior party MPs and members had asked the leadership to confirm Ali's suspension after he implied that "Israel" had purposefully loosened security following warnings of an imminent attack.
Read more: Waving Palestine flag, chanting from 'river to sea' an offense in UK
Labour MPs called the continued support of Ali by the leadership a "huge and disappointing shift" from their promise of having "zero tolerance" for "antisemitism".
A local Labour insider indicated that some activists would seriously consider supporting Simon Danczuk, the disgraced former Labour MP for Rochdale who was removed from the party for sending improper communications to a teen.
The source expressed that “Simon may be the best way of keeping [George Galloway, who is running as a Workers party candidate in the byelection] out."
Danczuk accused Labour of campaigning for "someone with antisemitic views," calling any further support for Ali a "disgraceful state of affairs."
Danczuk’s campaign is centered on stopping Galloway, emphasizing that if elected, he would "prioritize Rochdale over Palestine."
Galloway has called on voters to help the people of Gaza by allowing him a voice to campaign on their behalf.
Last year, Martin Forde KC, the senior barrister commissioned by Starmer to review the Labour Party's culture, chastised the leadership for promising a "zero-tolerance" response to "antisemitism" and all other kinds of racism without "transparent systems in place."
Forde called for an independent directorate to monitor the Labour's disciplinary proceedings, which was later rejected, saying at the time, "I think part of the reason that factionalism has arisen around this is because there is a perception that different groups are treated differently."
Kate Osamor, a Labour MP, was suspended in January for stating that Gaza should be recognized as a genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day, and Andy McDonald was suspended by Labour after he stated during a pro-Palestine rally that justice will be served between "the river and the sea," a phrase the British government and many pro-Israeli lobbies have called "antisemitic".
