Support hopeful
Israel
now-former Labour candidate claimed that Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.
Rishi Sunak, speaking to GB News viewers on Monday at an event in County Durham, said it was a “con” to suggest Labour has been reformed.
He said: “Keir Starmer has been running around for the last year trying to tell everybody ‘Okay, Labour Party’s changed’.
“Well, look what just happened in Rochdale.”
He accused Sir Keir of having “stood by and sent cabinet ministers to support him, until literally five minutes before I walked on tonight, under enormous media pressure, has decided to change his mind on principle”.
“No principles at all,” he added.
Labour’s decision will add considerable uncertainty to the outcome of the by-election when voters go to the polls at the end of the month.
Also running in Rochdale are former Labour MP Simon Danczuk, now the Reform Party candidate, and George Galloway, of the Workers Party of Britain, who is campaigning against Labour’s
stance on Gaza.
About 20% of the electorate and 30% of the population of the town are Asian, with polls nationally suggesting Labour’s vote could be hit by Asian people unhappy with the party over Palestine and its perceived support for Israel.
If elected, Mr Ali will sit as an independent MP and will not receive the party whip.
The decision means that Labour will also need to find a new candidate to contest the seat at the upcoming general election.
A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: “Sir Keir
Starmer has blotted an otherwise fairly admirable copybook and given the public reason to doubt the earnestness of his promise to tear anti-semitism out ‘by its roots’ in Labour.
“People will have to judge for themselves whether the additional reported comments by Azhar Ali are really any worse than the comments that had already been reported.
“Rather than appearing as a principled decision, Labour’s withdrawal of support for its candidate at this late stage just looks as expedient as the failed attempt to defend him. It is the worst of all worlds for Labour.”