Oh dear. It seems that the all-conquering Labour by-election machine might have come unstuck in the treacherous terrains of Rochdale. Following the death of veteran MP Tony Lloyd on 17 January, the party quickly moved the writ to elect his replacement to the House of Commons. The ensuing by-election is due to be held on 29 February, with Labour plumping for a six-week campaign for fear that a longer contest would benefit an outside challenger. Almost a third of the Rochdale electorate is comprised of Muslim voters; many of them are angry at Keir Starmer’s stance over Gaza.
But in their undue haste to replace Tony Lloyd, it seems that Labour have blundered badly. For the candidate they chose to replace Lloyd – a man respected on both sides of the House – is none other than Azhar Ali. The Mail on Sunday has today revealed that Ali claimed that Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October massacre to give it the ‘green light’ to invade Gaza. He made his comments at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party in the wake of the October atrocity, where he claimed the Israeli government had removed its border security to enable the Hamas attack. Ali said:
The Egyptians are saying that they warned Israel ten days earlier… Americans warned them a day before [that] there’s something happening… They deliberately took the security off, they allowed… that massacre that gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want.
Ali also went on to claim at that meeting that Keir Starmer was not ‘held in high regard’ suggesting that ‘a lost of the MPs I’ve spoken to, non-Muslim MPs, feel that on this issue, he’s lost the confidence of the parliamentary party.’ Talk about a boost of confidence! Ali has now apologised to the Jewish community for his ‘deeply offensive, ignorant and false’ comments with senior shadow frontbencher Pat McFadden confirming on Sky that Ali will still stand for the party when the vote takes place on 29 February.
So much for a changed Labour party, eh?
Comments