Sir Keir Starmer stated that he made a difficult and definitive decision to retract his support for Labour’s candidate in the Rochdale by-election, following backlash over comments made by Azhar Ali regarding Israel.
The leader of the Labour party stated that the party has undergone a transformation under his leadership. It was announced on Monday (12 February) that Mr. Ali, who is believed to be suspended while an investigation takes place, will no longer receive support from Labour.
Mr. Ali offered an apology following the release of a recording from a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party where he implied that Israel used the October 7 Hamas attack as an excuse to invade Gaza.
The Labour party decided to withdraw their support for the candidate after receiving new information about additional comments made by the candidate.
Source: independent.co.uk
