Suspension of Labour councillor called into question yet again
The Labour Party’s claim to have suspended a councillor is once again being called into question, nine months after similar concerns were raised, after further evidence has arisen appearing to show that the local Labour group continues to include him in its activities.
Cllr Mohammed Iqbal, who served, until his reported suspension, as the leader of the Labour Group on Pendle Council in Lancashire, was reportedly suspended last year by the Party over remarks that he made in a speech in April 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.”
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 at the time: “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.
Campaign Against Antisemitism was informed that Cllr Iqbal continued to enjoy membership of the Labour Group at the Council, despite his apparent suspension. We had, for example, seen a press release sent via e-mail by Cllr Iqbal on behalf of the Labour Group, and a sign-in sheet in which he continued to be listed as a Labour councillor.
It appears that now, nine months later, little has changed, as photographs produced by the JC appear to show Cllr Iqbal campaigning during the recent local elections.
Andrew Stephenson, the Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Pendle, questioned how legitimate Cllr Iqbal’s suspension was.
“Since his supposed ‘suspension’ from the Labour Party, Cllr Iqbal has continued to sit with the Labour group in Pendle Council and Lancashire County Council,” he said. “He was seen repeatedly out campaigning for Labour in the run up to the local elections and then attended the count to celebrate alongside other Labour councillors.”
He added: “It is therefore unclear what his ‘suspension’ actually means. In the light of the Pendle Labour Party turning a blind eye to antisemitism Sir Keir Starmer should launch an investigation into the local Labour party and make Cllr Iqbal’s suspension permanent.”
Anne-Marie Wrigley, Vice-Chair of Pendle Labour Party, rebuffed Mr Stephenson, whom she called a “desperate man”, and reaffirmed that Cllr Iqbal’s suspension was still in effect.
She said: “After thirteen years as MP for Pendle Andrew Stephenson is now resorting to personal attacks against Labour Party members because he has seen the tide has turned. This is a desperate man worried more about his ministerial career than anything else.
“Cllr Iqbal is suspended from the Labour Party pending an investigation which we hope will be concluded soon. He cannot act on behalf of the Labour Party.”
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.
