Labour has told its activists they face “disciplinary action” if they continue to campaign for the party’s abandoned Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali.
The party’s branch in the North West has emailed activists in the region to warn they must no longer canvass for Mr Ali now that Labour has withdrawn its support for his candidacy over alleged antisemitic remarks he made last year.
The party’s rulebook states that support for any political organisation or candidate that is not Labour is prohibited.
Mr Ali first faced criticism when the Mail on Sunday reported that he had told a meeting of community activists last year that Israel deliberately allowed the Hamas atrocity to take place in order to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza.
A number of shadow ministers initially stood by Mr Ali and said he would remain the candidate in light of his “unreserved” apology for the “deeply offensive, ignorant and false” comments.
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However, the party withdrew support for Mr Ali when further remarks were published by the Daily Mail in which he allegedly blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for fuelling criticism of a pro-Palestinian Labour MP, as well as claiming Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.
It also temporarily suspended him from the party pending investigation.
On Tuesday night, Labour suspended another of its prospective parliamentary candidates, Graham Jones, after he allegedly referred to “f***ing Israel” at the same meeting where Mr Ali is reported to have made his comments.
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