Rochdale by-election: Why Labour can’t replace Azhar Ali – and what happens if he wins
Labour has withdrawn its support for Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali following criticism of remarks he made about Israel.
However, he will still appear on the ballot as the party’s candidate on Thursday 29 February.
Politics latest: Labour in ‘absolute mess’ over by-election
So, what happened and why can’t he be replaced?
Mr Ali’s candidacy for the by-election was thrown into the spotlight after reports he told a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party that Israel deliberately allowed the Hamas 7 October attacks to take place in order to give it the “green light” to invade Gaza.
He issued an “unreserved” apology for the “deeply offensive, ignorant and false” remarks and Labour initially stood by him, saying he had “fallen for a conspiracy theory”.
But less than 48 hours later, further comments came to light and Labour withdrew support for the candidate.
A report in the Daily Mail on Monday evening claimed Mr Ali blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for fuelling criticism of a pro-Palestinian Labour MP, as well as claiming Israel planned to “get rid of [Palestinians] from Gaza” and “grab” some of the land.
A party spokesperson said: “Following new information about further comments made by Azhar Ali coming to light today, the Labour Party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali as our candidate in the Rochdale by-election.”
Labour acknowledged the circumstances were “highly unusual”.
The spokesperson added: “Given that nominations have now closed, Azhar Ali cannot be replaced as the candidate.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Tremendous task to rebuild trust’
Why can’t Labour replace Ali?
According to Electoral Commission rules, a candidate can only pull out of a race if they submit a withdrawal notice by the deadline for withdrawals (which is by 4pm, 19 working days before the poll).
The deadline for the Rochdale by-election passed on 2 February.
That means Mr Ali will appear on the ballot paper as the Labour candidate when voters go to the polls.
What happens if Ali wins?
However, if Mr Ali wins the by-election, he will not become a Labour MP. Instead, he will sit as an independent.
That’s because by withdrawing support, Labour has effectively removed the whip were he to be selected as the constituency’s next MP.
Having the whip withdrawn is a severe punishment which means you are kicked out of the parliamentary party.
Other former Labour MPs this has happened to include former party leader Jeremy Corbyn and veteran left-wing MP Diane Abbott.
Both of those cases were to do with rows over antisemitism, which Sir Keir Starmer has promised to tear out of his party following the controversies that dogged the Corbyn era.
Azhar Ali at his campaign launch event. Pic: PA
Why is there a by-election and who else is standing?
The decision to withdraw backing for Mr Ali will come as a blow to Labour, which had hoped to retain the seat following the death last month of veteran sitting MP Sir Tony Lloyd.
It also means Labour will need to find a new candidate to contest the seat at the upcoming general election.
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.
What questions remain for Sir Keir Starmer?
The party leadership is being pressed on why Mr Ali was not immediately suspended after the initial comments emerged.
Labour recently suspended MP Kate Osamor after she appeared to say the Gaza war should be remembered as genocide on Holocaust Memorial Day.
And Sir Keir has repeatedly promised to tear antisemitism out “by its roots” in Labour.
Read more:
Starmer’s biggest crisis – and there may be worse to come
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘I ‘will rip antisemitism out’
A spokesperson for the Campaign Against Antisemitism said that rather than appearing as a principled decision, Labour’s withdrawal of support “looks as expedient as the failed attempt to defend him”.
Meanwhile, Martin Forde KC, who led a review into the party’s culture under Mr Corbyn, said Labour MPs feel there has been a “disparity in treatment” of allegations of antisemitism within the party.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “One does have to question how such individuals are selected in the first place, and also the disparity in treatment, because one of the things that concerned us when we talked about weaponisation was certainly the perception that antisemitism was along factional lines.”
How are candidates selected?
Mr Ali, the leader of Lancashire County Council’s Labour group, was chosen by local party members last month after making it on to the candidate shortlist with two other people – political journalist Paul Waugh and Wigan councillor Nazia Rehman.
Lord Mann, the government’s antisemitism adviser and a former Labour MP, told Sky News the filters in place during Labour’s selection process were “clearly not good enough” and Sir Keir will likely be “fuming”.
He added that “heads may roll” over the decision to shortlist Mr Ali, and the move to withdraw support was “bold and brave”.
He said this has “never happened before” in a by-election, adding: “I think the Jewish community, as it reflects on this, will take great comfort in the fact that Keir Starmer has been prepared to do it. It’s certainly a bold move.”
Before US Election Day, Brian Armstrong said Coinbase was “prepared to work” with either a Kamala Harris or Donald Trump administration.
Politics
Row over how many farms will be affected by inheritance tax policy – as PM doubles down ahead of farmers protest
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted the “vast majority of farmers” will not be affected by changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) ahead of a protest outside parliament on Tuesday.
It follows Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing a 20% inheritance tax that will apply to farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, where they were previously exempt.
But the prime minister looked to quell fears as he resisted calls to change course.
Speaking from the G20 summit in Brazil, he said: “If you take a typical case of a couple wanting to pass a family farm down to one of their children, which would be a very typical example, with all of the thresholds in place, that’s £3m before any inheritance tax is paid.”
Politics latest: No 10 insists chancellor has been ‘straight’ about her CV
The comments come as thousands of farmers, including celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson, are due to descend on Whitehall on Tuesday to protest the change.
And 1,800 more will take part in a “mass lobby” where members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will meet their MPs in parliament to urge them to ask Ms Reeves to reconsider the policy.
Speaking to broadcasters, Sir Keir insisted the government is supportive of farmers, pointing to a £5bn investment announced for them in the budget.
He said: “I’m confident that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected at all by that aspect of the budget.
“They will be affected by the £5bn that we’re putting into farming. And I’m very happy to work with farmers on that.”
Sir Keir’s spokesman made a similar argument earlier on Monday, saying the government expects 73% of farms to not be affected by the change.
Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK’s 209,000 farms would be affected, according to Treasury calculations.
However, that number has been questioned by several farming groups and the Conservatives.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Farming industry is feeling ‘betrayed’ – NFU boss
Government figures ‘misleading’
The NFU said the real number is about two-thirds, with its president Tom Bradshaw calling the government’s figures “misleading” and accusing it of not understanding the sector.
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) said the policy could affect 70,000 farms.
Conservative shadow farming minister Robbie Moore accused the government last week of “regurgitating” figures that represent “past claimants of agricultural property relief, not combined with business property relief” because he said the Treasury does not have that data.
Read more:
Farmers warn of food price hikes due to inheritance tax policy
Minister downplays risk of empty shelves if farmers strike
Welsh farmers carried out a protest outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno, North Wales, over the weekend
Agricultural property relief (APR) currently provides farmers 100% relief from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land or pasture used for rearing livestock or fish, and can include woodland and buildings, such as farmhouses, if they are necessary for that land to function.
Farmers can also claim business property relief (BPR), providing 50% or 100% relief on assets used by a trading business, which for farmers could include land, buildings, plant or machinery used by the business, farm shops and holiday cottages.
APR and BPR can often apply to the same asset, especially farmed land, but APR should be the priority, however BPR can be claimed in addition if APR does not cover the full value (e.g. if the land has development value above its agricultural value).
APR and BPR can apply to farmland, which the Conservatives say has been overlooked by the Treasury in compiling its impact figures. File pic: iStock
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Mr Moore said the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Treasury have disagreed on how many farms will be impacted “by as much as 40%” due to the lack of data on farmers using BPR.
Lib Dem MP Tim Farron said last week1,400 farmers in Cumbria, where he is an MP, will be affected and will not be able to afford to pay the tax as many are on less than the minimum wage despite being asset rich.
Politics
Cabinet split over assisted dying as Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson latest to reveal she will vote against bill
A split is emerging in the cabinet, with Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson revealing she will join several of her colleagues and vote against the bill to legalise assisted dying.
Ms Phillipson told Sky News she will vote against the proposed legislation at the end of this month, which would give terminally ill people with six months to live the option to end their lives.
She voted against assisted dying in 2015 and said: “I haven’t changed my mind.
“I continue to think about this deeply. But my position hasn’t changed since 2015.”
Politics latest: Starmer on Ukraine as he attends Rio G20
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Details of end of life bill released
MPs will be given a free vote on the bill, so they will not be told how to vote by their party.
The topic has seen a split in the cabinet – however, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has yet to reveal how he will vote on 29 November.
Ms Phillipson joins some other big names who have publicly said they are voting against the bill
These include Deputy PM Angela Rayner, Health Secretary Wes Streeting, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
Border security minister Angela Eagle is also voting against the bill.
Senior cabinet members voting in favour of assisted dying include Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, Science Secretary Peter Kyle, Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn, Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.
The split over the issue is said to be causing friction within government, with Sir Keir rebuking the health secretary for repeatedly saying he is against the bill and for ordering officials to review the costs of implementing any changes in the law.
Read more:
What is in the assisted dying bill?
Why is assisted dying so controversial and where is it already legal?
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has called for a cost report into assisted dying. Pic: PA
Sky News’ deputy political editor Sam Coates has been told Morgan McSweeney, the PM’s chief of staff, is concerned about the politics of the bill passing.
He is understood to be worried the issue will dominate the agenda next year and, while he is not taking a view on the bill, he can see it taking over the national conversation and distracting from core government priorities like the economy and borders.
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Details of the bill were published last week and include people wanting to end their life having to self-administer the medicine.
It would only be allowed for terminally ill people who have been given six months to live.
Two independent doctors would have to confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge would have to give their approval before it could go ahead.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Environment1 year agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway