Labour suspends multiple councillors after multiple controversies emerge in wake of local elections
The Labour Party has implemented a raft of suspensions following a series of controversies at local councils.
Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, who is the leader of the Labour group on Pendle Council in Lancashire, has reportedly been suspended by the Party over remarks that he made in a speech last month in which he called for the flag of the Palestinian Authority to be flown from the town hall. He reportedly said: “The fact is that what’s going on in Ukraine, Palestine, and other areas I’ve mentioned, reminds me, I barely passed my GCSE history at school, but many people in this room will remember what justification Hitler had for what he did to the Jews in the Second World War.”
Yasser Iqbal, another Labour councillor who serves as the town’s mayor, reportedly cited Pastor Niemoller’s famous anti-Nazi poem denouncing those who did not “speak out”, saying, according to the JC, that those who failed to speak out against the Jewish state were culpable.
According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
Cllr Iqbal reportedly told the JC: “I disagree that this is antisemitic. I have friends who are Jews and Israeli friends who are Jewish and from other faiths.” He apparently added that several Jewish people had contacted him to express their support. Cllr Yasser Iqbal reportedly did not respond to a request for comment.
The motion to fly the flag passed unanimously in the Council, where the Conservatives are in the majority. Among their number is Cllr Mohammed Aslam, who was formerly a Labour councillor and has previously (as a Conservative) been embroiled in controversy, with Cllr Mohammed Iqbal among those calling on the Conservatives to take action.
In Haringey, Cllr Joy Wallace has reportedly been suspended by the Labour Party. Cllr Wallace, who won election last month, allegedly accused a rabbi of being “paid handsomely” for criticising Jeremy Corbyn on Radio 4, among other inflammatory remarks.
The Labour leader on the Council has called on councillors to disclose any controversies or latent scandals in an apparent effort to pre-empt further revelations, as another councillor, Ibrahim Ali, was also suspended by Labour after it emerged that he was previously employed by the controversial CAGE activist group, and in 2015 he reportedly defended the description of the terrorist known as Jihadi John as a “beautiful young man” while speaking to a Parliamentary committee.
In Hillingdon, Cllr Labina Basit has reportedly been suspended by Labour over her past alleged views on antisemitism in the Party, including apparent opposition to the International Definition of Antisemitism.
In Milton Keynes, Cllr Ansar Hussein has also reportedly been suspended by Labour. He was alleged to have shared conspiracy theories about the Jewish state on social media, including some that appear to compare Israeli policies to those of the Nazis. According to the International Definition of Antisemitism, “Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis” is an example of antisemitism.
Other controversies have also arisen elsewhere.
A handful of Labour councillors have now been suspended since the local elections, with Newham’s Cllr Belgica Guaña having been suspended just hours before the polls opened. Campaign Against Antisemitism has reported her to the police and Newham Council.
The Labour Party was found by the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) to have engaged in unlawful discrimination and harassment of Jews. The report followed the EHRC’s investigation of the Labour Party in which Campaign Against Antisemitism was the complainant, submitting hundreds of pages of evidence and legal argument. Sir Keir Starmer called the publication of the report a “day of shame” for the Labour Party.
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s Antisemitism Barometer 2019 showed that antisemitism on the far-left of British politics has surpassed that of the far-right.
Campaign Against Antisemitism advocates for zero tolerance of antisemitism in public life. To that end we monitor all political parties and strive to ensure that any cases of concern are properly addressed.
