Revealed: Leaked audio of Labour Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali’s anti-Israel comments

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Labour’s former Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali mentioned Benjamin Netenyahu allowed the October 7 Hamas assault on Israel as a result of he was “in political trouble”.

In the primary audio recording of his controversial comments to be made public, the native councillor mentioned the Israeli prime minister “deliberately took the security off” and “allowed the massacre”.

“That gives them the green light to do whatever they bloody want [in Gaza],” Mr Ali mentioned.

The audio, made public by Guido Fawkes, was recorded at a gathering of the Lancashire Labour Party.

As properly as claiming Israel allowed the Hamas terror assault, which killed round 1,200 Israelis, to go forward, Mr Ali additionally allegedly mentioned Labour’s suspension of a left-wing MP was pushed by “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters”.

The antisemitic outburst, for which he has apologised, value Mr Ali Labour’s assist within the Rochdale by-election. He will seem on the poll on February 29 because of electoral guidelines prohibiting a change of candidate, however Labour is not backing Mr Ali and he won’t sit as a Labour MP if he’s elected.

In the recording of his comments, Mr Ali hints that he has expressed the opinion publicly on different events, saying “I believe that, and I’ve said it publicly”.

It will elevate additional questions on how he was allowed to be chosen to switch the late Sir Tony Lloyd, the veteran former Labour MP whose demise final month sparked the competition.

When Mr Ali’s comments first got here to mild, in a report by the Mail on Sunday_, Labour publicly stood by their man. Shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds insisted it could be “unfair” to conclude there’s a drawback with Labour in Rochdale, including that Mr Ali had merely “fallen for an online conspiracy theory”.

Frontbenchers Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds had campaigned for Mr Ali over the weekend, whereas shadow minister Nick Thomas-Symonds was defending Labour’s determination to again him on Monday morning.

Labour marketing campaign coordinator Pat McFadden criticised Mr Ali however mentioned on Sunday he would stay as Labour’s candidate.

Labour blamed his suspension on “new information”, referring to a report within the Daily Mail that he had blamed Andy McDonald’s suspension on “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters”.

Mr McDonald was suspended by Labour after he used the phrase “between the river and the sea” in a speech throughout a rally.

Mr Ali can be reported to have claimed Israel deliberate to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.

The recording got here as a lawyer who led a evaluation into antisemitism within the Labour Party mentioned its dealing with of the disaster has been “shambolic”.

Martin Forde KC mentioned MPs throughout the celebration really feel there was a “disparity in treatment” of allegations of antisemitism following the management’s rowback in assist for Mr Ali.

Mr Forde, whose 2022 inquiry discovered that each left and proper wings of the celebration had used antisemitism as a factional weapon below former chief Jeremy Corbyn, advised BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “If you want a fair and transparent system then it has to deal with people consistently.”

He added: “I’m aware from discussions with some of the MPs within the party – who might be described as left-leaning – that they feel that when it comes to disciplinary action taken against them then things move rather slowly, but if you’re in the right faction of the party, as it were, then things are dealt with either more leniently or more swiftly.”

A Labour spokesman mentioned: “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.”