Labour MPs intervened after the party leadership initially failed to withdraw support for Azhar Ali after his anti-Israel comments first emerged, an insider has claimed.
The candidate for the Rochdale by-election sparked an outcry after a recording emerged in which he was heard to say that Israel “deliberately allowed” the 7 October attacks as a pretext to invade Gaza.
Sir Keir Starmer initially stood by the local councillor, with shadow Cabinet ministers sent out to defend Mr Ali insisting he was not antisemitic and that he had fallen for an online conspiracy.
But only hours later, Sir Keir was forced into his second U-turn in less than a week, when new allegations emerged about Mr Ali, in which he was said to have blamed Jewish journalists for fuelling criticism against pro-Palestinian MPs.
The Daily Mail published comments made at the same meeting, in which Mr Ali allegedly blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of Andy McDonald from the Labour Party.
i has been told that Labour MPs demanded to know on Monday morning why the party was sticking by Mr Ali, with warnings that more stories were likely to be published in relation to him.
One Labour figure said: “I went to bed on Sunday night thinking I would wake up and it would be done [support would be withdrawn]. But an intervention had to be made on Monday morning. You could see from space that there was more to come out about him.”
It was not until 2.30pm on Monday that Labour headquarters were informed that further revelations were due to be published about their candidate, prompting an emergency meeting for Starmer and his inner circle.
After five hours of deliberations, the party issued a statement that it was pulling its support for their candidate and that Mr Ali would be suspended from the party pending a full investigation.
The party has since been forced to suspend a second general election parliamentary candidate, Graham Jones, former MP for Hyndburn, for similar anti-Israel comments.
Senior Labour figures have admitted that the Ali episode has been “embarrassing” for the party, with shadow veterans minister Steve McCabe appearing to question the decision-making from the party leadership.
Speaking to GB News, Mr McCabe said: “It’s obviously difficult and embarrassing for the Labour Party.
“I think when you are confronted with a situation like this, you don’t have a choice, and you have to do what you believe to be right.
“I’ve been involved in times where allegations have been made about candidates. Sometimes you have to weigh up.
“You have to ask how important it is, what else is influencing it? I think the issue is that conditionally people were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt – that he said his apology in good faith.
“But I think with the further revelations, it was too late and that was just the end of it.”
Tory MPs have started writing letters to Labour HQ to demand who else was at the Lancashire Labour Party meeting in which Mr Ali made his comments, and asking why they did not flag the claims he made with the central party earlier.
Government minister Lee Rowley accused the Opposition of “going to ground” after no shadow minister appeared on Tuesday’s morning media round amid the backlash.
“Where’s Labour today? Talking to people like yourselves, they’re not doing it,” he told Sky News.
Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden told broadcasters the party acted because “new information and more comments have come to light, which meant that we had to look at this situation again”.
Azhar Ali was selected as the Labour candidate for Rochdale on January 27, ahead of Wigan councillor Nazia Rehman and Paul Waugh, who stepped aside as i’s chief political commentator.