Keir Starmer finally ditches candidate who blames Israel for October 7 massacre in huge U-turn
SIR KEIR Starmer has ditched his Rochdale by-election candidate who peddled a anti-Israel online conspiracy theory.
The Labour leader withdrew the party’s support for Azhar Ali after he was secretly recorded peddling the smear that Israel allowed terrorists to infiltrate its border on October 7.
A spokesperson for Labour said: “Following new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali coming to light today, the Labour party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as our candidate in the Rochdale by-election.
“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.
“Given that nominations have now closed Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate.”
Sir Keir was facing open revolt from his own MPs after insisting the party had changed from the era of Jeremy Corbyn.
Labour MPs had already decided to defy party orders by refusing to campaign in Rochdale for the candidate against orders.
One Cabinet Minister had accused Sir Keir of protecting a “racist crank”.
‘Racist crank’
Richard Holden, Tory party chair, hit out at Labour politicians who said the public should “turn a blind eye” and the party hadn’t moved on from Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.
He said: “Azhar Ali is clearly a racist crank who is being protected by Sir Keir Starmer.
“The more everyone can see that Labour hasn’t changed from the time when Starmer backed up Corbyn and tried to make him Prime Minister, twice.”
Starmer faced intense pressure to distance himself from Ali who was secretly recorded saying Israel sanctioned the attacks to let them then invade Gaza.
Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “I’m not sure “Our candidate believed and repeated a vile and clearly antisemitic smear that he saw on the internet” is quite the defence that Labour think it is.”
Councillor Ali, who will remain as the party’s candidate, has unreservedly apologised for his comments.
He said the remarks are “deeply offensive, ignorant and false”.
The deadline to remove him from the ballot paper has now legally passed but Labour could withdraw support for his campaign.
The onslaught came after shadow Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “I do take what Councillor Ali has said at face value that he fell for an online conspiracy theory.”
One Labour MP said: “What the hell is going on and how did this guy get through the system? Just how has the party changed?”
But Joe Glasman, head of political and government investigations at Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “This is distressingly familiar to days that Sir Keir Starmer promised were behind us.
Staggering rise
“This is not tearing antisemitism out ‘by its roots’.”
It has also emerged that Ali helped raise millions of pounds for a mosque in the town where preachers have voiced support for terrorists.
Speakers there also attacked Zionism as a result of “totalitarian brainwashing”, it’s been reported.
Meanwhile, it has emerged Labour has faced a staggering seven hundred complaints of anti-semitism allegations since Sir Keir Starmer took office.
A dossier compiled by the party shows more than a third, some 37 per cent, of cases involving such claims.
Research shows that 46 cases were dealt with by Labour’s National Executive Committee last year bringing a total of 740 cases since April 2020.