Labour Retreats from Backing Candidate Accused of Alleging Israel Permitted Assaults
Labour candidate for Rochdale MP Azhar Ali has issued an apology for his earlier claim that Israel allowed Hamas to attack its citizens on Oct. 7.
The Labour Party has withdrawn support for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali, who made the unfounded claim that Israel had allowed Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks to happen as a pretext to invade Gaza.
Initially, Labour stood by Mr. Ali, who had apologised for making the remarks recorded during a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party.
“Keir Starmer has changed Labour so that it is unrecognisable from the party of 2019. We understand that these are highly unusual circumstances but it is vital that any candidate put forward by Labour fully represents its aims and values.”
Mr. Ali Claimed Israel Knew of Attacks in Advance
Mr. Ali, a Lancashire county councillor and former government adviser who was given an OBE in 2020 for public service, told a gathering in recordings published by The Mail on Sunday. “The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel ten days earlier … Americans warned them a day before (that) there’s something happening.
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“They deliberately took the security off, they allowed …that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.”
According to an article published by The Daily Mail on Monday night, Mr. Ali had also said during the Lancashire event that “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” were “giving crap” to Labour MP Andy McDonald, who Labour suspended after Mr. McDonald used the phrase “between the river and the sea” in a speech during a rally.
The newspaper also reported the former Labour candidate as allegedly claiming that Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.
Hamas launched an attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which resulted in 1,400 people being killed and more than 240 kidnapped. The military response from Israel is ongoing.
Labour Criticised for Delaying Withdrawal of Support
Responding to Labour’s announcement, a spokesperson for the Jewish charity Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) criticised the party for delaying the withdrawal of support for Mr. Ali until such a late stage.
The CAA spokesperson said: “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.
“People will have to judge for themselves whether the additional reported comments by Azhar Ali are really any worse than the comments that had already been reported.
“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.
“It is the worst of all worlds for Labour.”
Labour had come under pressure to remove support for the candidate, including from Conservative Cabinet Minister Michael Gove who had said, “Sir Keir Starmer cannot continue to support this candidacy.”
Weighing in, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak accused Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of having “no principles at all.”
“He’s stood by and sent cabinet ministers to support him, until literally five minutes before I walked on tonight, under enormous media pressure, has decided to change his mind on principle. No principles at all.
“So no, the Labour Party hasn’t changed. It’s a con.”
Last month, Labour removed the whip from Kate Osamor after she posted a message to X, formerly Twitter, on Holocaust Memorial Day calling the Israel-Hamas conflict a “genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. Ms. Osamor later apologised.
The Rochdale by-election was triggered by the death of sitting MP Sir Tony Lloyd, who held the seat for the Labour Party at the 2019 election with a 9,668 majority over the Conservatives.
Among the other candidates running in the constituency are its former MP Simon Danczuk, who held the seat for Labour between 2010 and 2017 and is now standing as a Reform UK party candidate; George Galloway, formerly of Labour and the Respect Party, now a member of the Workers Party of Britain; and the Conservatives’ Paul Ellison.
PA Media contributed to this report.
