Labour withdraws support for Rochdale candidate after Israel remarks

Image caption, Azhar Ali issued an apology after his comments were published

By Sam Francis

Political reporter, BBC News

Labour says it has “withdrawn support” for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali after his comments on Israel.

The BBC understands Mr Ali has been suspended from Labour pending an investigation.

The party said the decision was taken after “new information about further comments” by Mr Ali came to light. Earlier on Monday, Labour had defended standing by him as a candidate.

It is too late for the party to replace Mr Ali as its candidate.

The decision means that Mr Ali will remain on the ballot as the Labour candidate for Rochdale, but if he is elected he will sit as an independent MP or join another party.

It is also highly unlikely that Mr Ali – a Lancashire County Councillor – would be selected by Labour to fight the forthcoming general election.

A Labour spokesperson said: “Keir Starmer has changed Labour so that it is unrecognisable from the party of 2019… it is vital that any candidate put forward by Labour fully represents its aims and values.”

Mr Ali is alleged to have told a Labour party meeting that Israel had “allowed” the deadly attack by Hamas gunmen on 7 October.

After the comments came to light, Mr Ali apologised “to Jewish leaders for my inexcusable comments”.

Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator Pat McFadden said Mr Ali was suspended after “more comments” came to light.

It is unclear what was said in the new comments but it is understood to be further remarks made at the same meeting.

Mr McFadden said “the fact you have got very rare circumstances where a political party is withdrawing support for a candidate after nominations have closed” showed Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer was serious about “rooting antisemitism out of the Labour party”.

Image source, PA Media

Image caption, Azhar Ali launched his campaign to be Labour’s candidate for Rochdale on 7 February, gaining public backing from many senior figures including Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham

Labour has faced intense pressure since the remarks surfaced, with widespread condemnation from party members and political rivals.

Withdrawing support for Mr Ali will come as a blow to Labour, who had initially stood by him as the candidate to take over as MP for Rochdale after the death Sir Tony Lloyd.

Frontbenchers Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds had been out campaigning for Mr Ali in the constituency at the weekend.

Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds had also been sent out to defend Labour’s decision to back Mr Ali on Monday morning.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the comments were “completely and utterly unacceptable” but suggested Mr Ali understood the “gravity of the offence that has been caused” and had “unreservedly apologised”.

‘Worst of all worlds’

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused Labour of only withdrawing support for Mr Ali due to “enormous media pressure”.

“That’s not principled”, Mr Sunak said.

Labour’s decision will add an extra layer of uncertainty to the outcome of the by-election on Thursday, 29 February.

Also running are former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, now the Reform Party candidate, and George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, who is campaigning against Labour’s stance on Gaza. Paul Ellison, a local business owner and campaigner, is standing for the Conservatives, while Iain Donaldson will represent the Liberal Democrats.

Guy Otten’s name will appear on the ballot paper for the Green Party, but Mr Otten announced he would be stepping down from the party after comments came to light in which he criticised Palestinians and Islam.

Polling expert Prof Sir John Curtice said: “This certainly is a more difficult by-election than you might have anticipated given that Labour started off with a 20-point lead in even in 2019.”

The results will “depend on what Labour voters decide to do – do they stay at home or do they decide to support Labour”, he added.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said the decision to withdraw support was “the worst of all worlds”.

“Rather than appearing as a principled decision, Labour’s withdrawal of support for its candidate at this late stage just looks as expedient as the failed attempt to defend him,” the spokesperson added.

“Sir Keir Starmer has blotted an otherwise fairly admirable copybook and given the public reason to doubt the earnestness of his promise to tear antisemitism out ‘by its roots’ in Labour.”

In recent months, Labour has suspended two of its MPs from the party for comments related to the conflict.

In January, Kate Osamor had the party whip removed after saying Gaza should be remembered as genocide in a post about Holocaust Memorial Day. Last year, Andy McDonald was suspended after saying: “We will not rest until we have justice. Until all people, Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, can live in peaceful liberty.”

Israel declared war on Hamas after the group led an attack on communities inside Israel, killing about 1,300 people.

Since then, more than 27,700 Palestinians have been killed and at least 65,000 injured by waves of missiles launched by Israel into the Gaza Strip in response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.