- Written by Sam Francis
- BBC News political reporter
Azhar Ali apologized after his comments were published
Labor has announced it has “withdrew its support” for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali following his comments about Israel.
The BBC understands that Mr Ali has been suspended by the Labor Party pending an investigation.
It is too late for the party to choose a candidate to replace Ali.
The decision means Mr Ali will remain on the ballot as Labor's candidate for Rochdale, but if elected he will either sit as an independent or join another party.
It is also highly unlikely that Mr Ali will be selected by Labor to contest the upcoming general election.
He was quoted as saying at a Labor Party meeting that Israel had “authorized” the deadly attack by Hamas militants on October 7.
After the remarks came to light, Ali apologized “to Jewish leaders for my inexcusable comments.”
Labour's national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden said Mr Ali was suspended after “further comments” came to light.
It is unclear what was said in the new comments, but it is understood to be further remarks made at the same meeting.
Mr McFadden said: “The fact that we are in the extremely rare situation where a party withdraws support for a candidate after the nomination deadline shows that Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer is serious about “removing anti-Semitism from the Labor Party'' He said that it shows that.
Labor has been under intense pressure since the comments surfaced, with widespread condemnation from members and political opponents.
The withdrawal of support for Mr Ali will be a blow to Labor, which had originally supported him as a candidate to succeed the Rochdale MP following the death of Sir Tony Lloyd.
Frontbench frontbenchers Lisa Nandy and Anneliese Dodds were out campaigning for Mr Ali in the constituency over the weekend.
Shadow Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds had also been sent on Monday morning to defend Labor's decision to back Mr Ali.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today program that the comments were “completely and completely unacceptable”, but added that Mr Ali understood “the seriousness of the offense caused” and had “unreservedly apologized”. suggested.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak blamed “tremendous media pressure” for Labor to withdraw its support for Mr Ali.
“It's against the principles,” Sunak said.
The by-election will be held on Thursday, February 29th.
