Councillor Azhar Ali’s remarks have been called “appalling” by Nick Thomas-Symonds, but he should be given the opportunity to “rebuild trust” with the Jewish community.
Following the horror, Councillor Azhar Ali told a Lancashire Labour Party meeting that Israel had purposefully allowed the slaughter to occur in order to give them the “green light” to invade Gaza.
In a “unreserved” apology, he said that his remarks were “deeply offensive, ignorant, and false” following their publication over the weekend by the Mail On Sunday.
Despite the harsh condemnation he and the Labour Party have received for the remarks, the councillor is still the party’s nominee in this month’s by-election, and there is no longer a deadline to replace him.
When asked about Mr. Ali’s remarks, Nick Thomas-Symonds, a shadow minister without a portfolio, told Sky News that they were “totally unacceptable and completely wrong, and they in no way represent the views of the Labour Party.”
He asserted, however, that the council member was duped by a “web conspiracy theory and that does not represent his view.”
