Labour is facing mounting pressure for their continued support of Rochdale’s by-election candidate after he claimed Israel deliberately relaxed security to allow Hamas to carry out their 7 October attack, to provide grounds to invade Gaza.
Azhar Ali has apologised for his “deeply offensive” remarks, with shadow cabinet minister Nick Thomas-Symonds saying he believed that Mr Ali had fallen for “an online conspiracy theory”.
Yet it has prompted questions about Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s claim that the party has changed since the antisemitism crisis that engulfed Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
The Tories have called for the aspiring MPs Labour Party membership to be removed, with cabinet minister Michael Gove stressing: “Sir Keir Starmer cannot continue to support this candidacy.”
In a recording obtained by the Mail on Sunday, Mr Ali was heard telling a meeting: “They deliberately took the security off, they allowed … that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.”
The controversy comes as Rishi Sunak faces one of the most challenging weeks of his premiership, with two tricky by-elections, opposition to his Rwanda plan, and official figures showing whether the UK has slipped into a recession.
