Sir Keir Starmer faces a deepening antisemitism crisis after he was forced to take action against a second parliamentary candidate in 24 hours and came under pressure to investigate five more MPs and candidates. The Telegraph has the story.
The Labour leader suspended Graham Jones, who was due to stand in Hyndburn, where he was MP until 2019, after it emerged that he referred to “f—ing Israel” at a public meeting and said that British volunteers in the Israel Defence Forces should be “locked up”.
He was pushed into the decision less than a day after he was forced to remove support for Azhar Ali, his candidate for this month’s Rochdale by-election, following an outcry over a string of anti-smitic remarks made by Mr. Ali at the same gathering that went unchallenged.
On Tuesday, Sir Keir insisted that his party had changed and vowed to punish any more candidates accused of making similar comments, saying any allegations would be thoroughly investigated.
However, he was criticised over his “shambolic” handling of the crisis and urged to “get a grip” on antisemitism in the party, instead of simply playing “racist whack-a-mole”.
Sir Keir will come under further pressure to investigate five more MPs and candidates who the Telegraph can reveal have been involved in controversies over Israel.
Two Shadow Cabinet Ministers – Thangam Debonnaire and Shabana Mahmood – are among those to have expressed contentious views on Gaza, while Afzal Khan, a former Shadow Minister, previously compared the Israeli Government to Nazis.
Zarah Sultana, the Left-wing MP, liked an anti-Israel social media post last month while a councillor running in Southampton allegedly attended a pro-Palestine rally in November.
Sir Keir is also facing growing demands to reveal which MPs and councillors were at the Lancashire meeting where Mr. Jones and Mr. Ali made their incendiary remarks.
The issue of antisemitism has long plagued the Labour Party, with Sir Keir vowing to “tear out the poison” after taking over as leader from Jeremy Corbyn, who was found to have overseen the spread of racism against Jewish people within the party.
Sir Keir has come under fire from his own party over his refusal to back a ceasefire in Gaza, with Labour MPs privately fearing that some could fail to get re-elected because of a backlash among Muslim voters.
One former Labour official, who was a senior figure in Gordon Brown’s No 10, said Sir Keir needed to swiftly “get a grip” and warned that antisemitism was still “rife” within the party.
The challenge for Starmer, of course, will be drawing a line between legitimate criticism of Israeli policies and conduct and antisemitism.
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