Candidates accused of bigotry
LABOUR has selected a series of candidates for the local elections who are alleged to have made anti-Semitic comments or refuse to acknowledge the issue within the party.
Some of those standing across the country also promoted a series of conspiracy theories related to the Salisbury poisonings, suggesting they were carried out by Britain. Another said Hitler was ‘wonderful’ for the German economy.
The revelations come days ahead of Jeremy Corbyn’s meetings with key Jewish groups on Tuesday.
Tony Kearns was selected for Kingstonupon-Thames Council in south- west London despite retweeting and endorsing claims that ‘Blairites’ and ‘Zionists’ were conspiring to create an anti- Semitism storm. He also retweeted claims that the country was being ‘lied to’ over the Salisbury poisonings.
Joanna Hughes, standing for Cheltenham Council, said the Labour Party was full of ‘warmongers’ and retweeted claims that the Labour Friends of Israel group and the Israeli Government were co- operating to undermine Mr Corbyn.
Ehtasham Haque, standing for Tower Hamlets Council in East London, said ‘Tel Aviv strikes again!’ when Ken Livingstone was suspended by Labour. He also suggested the Salisbury poisonings were carried out by the Government to boost its poll ratings. Rachael Baylis, who is standing for Worcester City Council, wrote in a tweet about the EU in June last year: ‘It does some good things but also bad, like pardon the comparison but Hitler, wonderful for German economy & car making, disgusting 4 mankind.’
Tory MP Rehman Chishti, the Conservatives’ vice chairman for communities, said: ‘It’s clear now that even Labour’s own candidates do not take the scourge of antiSemitic racism seriously.
‘Jeremy Corbyn promised a ‘‘ kinder politics’’, but these candidate selections show his party is delivering just the opposite, selecting candidates who say things which have no place in public life.’
A Labour Party spokesman said: ‘ AntiSemitism has absolutely no place in the Labour Party, and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it.’