Sir Keir Starmer’s left-wing Labor Party bowed to pressure on Monday over Mr Azhar Ali’s suggestion that Israel condoned the October 7 Hamas terror attack, with Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali Withdrew support for.
Just hours after the Labor leadership defended Ali, the left-wing party reversed course and announced its own candidate for the Rochdale by-election on February 29, triggered by the Labor MP’s death last year. has decided to withdraw its support. Sir Tony Lloyd.
Labor has selected Mr Ali as its candidate to replace Mr Ali in a special election, with party leaders including Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy Angela Reiner and his shadow allies including Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds. Members of the cabinet were sent to the constituencies for election campaigning. With Ali.
@AngelaRayner is correct. It’s time to restore Rochdale’s future. pic.twitter.com/MId2uc5LNr
— Azhar Ali OBE (@CllrAzharAli) February 4, 2024
But over the weekend, it became clear. sunday mail A left-wing politician told a group of Labor MPs that he believed the October 7 Islamist terrorist attack carried out by Hamas, which killed more than 1,200 people and captured more than 250, was deliberately sanctioned by Jerusalem. Israel asserted this without evidence. “They deliberately let their guard down and they allowed … that massacre that gave them the go-ahead to do whatever bloody thing they wanted.”
Ali quickly apologized and retracted his statement. On Monday, Labour’s shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds sought to defend Mr Ali, saying the MP had been “fallen into an online conspiracy” and insisted he recognized the “seriousness of the offenses that have been committed”.
However, hours later it was announced that Labor had withdrawn its support for Mr Ali after becoming aware of further anti-Israel comments, although this has not yet been made public.
public relations person Said of daily mail: “The Labor Party has today withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as a candidate in the Rochdale by-election following new information coming to light regarding further comments by Azhar Ali.”
“We understand that these are highly unusual circumstances, but it is vital that the candidates nominated by Labor fully embody its purpose and values.”
Given UK electoral law, left-wing parties will not be able to field another candidate as nominations closed on February 2nd. He will continue to run as a Labor candidate, but if he wins he will not be given the whip and will therefore sit in Parliament as an independent member.
Labor parliamentary candidate claims Israel deliberately sanctioned October 7 Hamas terrorist attackhttps://t.co/bAZISmqIpq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) February 11, 2024
The dramatic turn of events is widely seen as a boon for socialists George Galloway is a regular contributor to Russian state media RT and a former Labor MP who later founded the far-left British Labor Party. Mr Galloway, who has actively courted Rochdale’s large Muslim population, has previously been accused of spreading anti-Semitic rhetoric, including in 2014, when he was then a representative in Parliament. The city of Bradford was designated as an “Israel Free Zone”.
The prospect of Mr Galloway returning to the House of Commons is frightening for Labor. That’s because Mr. Galloway would criticize his moderate stance on Israel and give him a major platform to broadly support Jerusalem. He belonged to the Hamas terrorist network in the Gaza Strip, a position that put him at odds with far-left elements within the party and the Muslim community.
according to to the left wing guardian The newspaper said desperation among some in the party to prevent Galloway’s victory was so deep that they were considering supporting Simon Dantschuk, the populist right-wing Reform UK Party candidate, in the election. There are even people.
Mr Dantschuk is a former Labor MP for the city who was suspended by the party in 2015 after it emerged he had sent sexually inappropriate text messages to a 17-year-old. But a party insider said: “This may be the best way for Mr Simon to remain.” [Galloway] Out…it’s the devil and the deep blue sea. ”
Labor MP suspended for claiming ‘genocide’ in Gaza should be honored on Holocaust Remembrance Dayhttps://t.co/2tdYtES0Ew
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) January 29, 2024
The Reform Party candidate called on Labor to tear down all posters and leaflets supporting Ali and to require activists to continue campaigning on his behalf, saying: Completely disconnect from this candidate. It would be embarrassing if the party seemed to support him tacitly. ”
Mr. Dantschuk focused on Mr. Galloway, saying: “My campaign will be about telling voters that I don’t want an MP who will put Palestine before Rochdale. If elected, I will put Rochdale before Palestine.”
