11 February 2024 , 09:57
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A Labour by-election candidate has apologised for suggesting Israel allowed its citizens to be killed to give it the green light to invade Gaza.
Azhar Ali, who is standing for the party in Rochdale, said his remarks were "deeply offensive, ignorant and false" - and he would urgently apologise to Jewish leaders. He remains Labour's candidate for the Rochdale by-election on February 29.
The comments were made at a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party soon after the October 7 attacks, according to a recording obtained by the Mail on Sunday. Mr Ali reportedly told the meeting: '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.'
Mr Ali also said Keir Starmer had "lost the confidence" Labour MPs over the party's initial reluctance to back a ceasefire, according the paper. It comes after Shadow Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, the party's most senior Muslim MP, told the BBC there had been "a loss of trust, and I think that that needs to be rebuilt".
In a statement, Mr Ali said: “I apologise unreservedly to the Jewish community for my comments which were deeply offensive, ignorant, and false. Hamas’ horrific terror attack was the responsibility of Hamas alone, and they are still holding hostages who must be released.
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"October 7th was the greatest loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust, and Jews in the UK and across the world are living in fear of rising antisemitism. I will urgently apologise to Jewish leaders for my inexcusable comments. The Labour Party has changed unrecognisably under Keir Starmer's leadership, he has my full support in delivering the change Britain needs.”
Labour's Pat McFadden confirmed that Mr Ali was still Labour's candidate for the Rochdale by-election. "His comments were completely wrong," he told Sky News. "I hope he learns a good lesson from it because he should never have said something like that."
But the Board of Deputies of British Jews said in a statement: "These comments are disgraceful and unforgivable. Were it not too late to do so, we would have called on Labour to replace Mr Ali as a candidate.
"It is clear to us that Mr Ali is not apologising out of a genuine sense of remorse. Despite what he says in his apology, we do not see how we could possibly engage with him at this time and we believe other leading Jewish communal groups will feel similarly."
Mr Ali was selected last month to defend Labour's 9,668 majority in Rochdale, following the death of veteran MP Sir Tony Lloyd. He is the leader of the Labour group on Lancashire County Council.