Labour Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali ‘fell for Gaza conspiracy’ as party hit by antisemitism row - live

Rishi Sunak’s official spokesman has said there is “no place for antisemitism” in politics of British society, after it emerged a Labour candidate said Israel had “allowed” the deadly attack by Hamas gunmen on 7 October.

But the PM’s spokesman refused to comment on the specific allegations against Labour’s Rochdale candidate Azhar Ali.

Mr Ali has apologised for his “deeply offensive, ignorant, and false” claims.

Downing Street has said the US will continue to be a “reliable ally” if Donald Trump returns to the White House, days after he said he would “encourage” Russia to do as it wishes to members who failed to meet the alliance’s defence spending targets.

The former president told a campaign rally that he would let Russia “do whatever the hell they want” to countries that are “delinquent”.

And, asked about the comments on Monday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We have always said we will always work with the US and we have worked with the US through a number of different administrations and will continue to in the future.”

Britain has imposed sanctions on four Israeli individuals, saying they “threatened and perpetrated acts of aggression and violence” against Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

It follows a similar move by the US, which recently imposed sanctions on several Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.

The news comes as the foreign secretary and prime minister called on Israel to “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah in the south of Gaza.

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Downing Street declined to say whether the Prime Minister believes “total victory” over Hamas was realistic.

Asked about Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims that total victory was within reach, Mr Sunak’s official spokesman said: “That’s the prime minister of Israel’s language.

“From the PM’s perspective, what we want to see is a pause in this fighting so we can get aid in and hostages out, and obviously what we all want to see is a sustainable ceasefire.

“Clearly in order to reach that, as we’ve said before, we need to see measures taken including Hamas no longer in charge of Gaza and an arrangement that ensures the sustainable security of Israel, as well as aid in to support the people living in Gaza.”

Downing Street has echoed the Foreign Secretary’s calls for Israel to “stop and think seriously” before carrying out military action against Hamas in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are obviously deeply concerned about the prospect of a military offensive in Rafah.

“Over half of Gaza’s population are sheltering there and that crossing is vital to ensuring aid can reach the people who desperately need it

“The priority in Gaza must be an immediate pause in the fighting to get aid in and hostages out, such that we can then make progress towards a sustainable, permanent ceasefire.”

Former sports minister Tracey Crouch has announced she will not stand in the next general election.

Ms Crouch, who chaired a review of football governance in 2021, said on Monday she would not stand again for her Chatham and Aylesford seat, citing “personal and positive reasons”.

The Conservative MP said surviving breast cancer had given her “an opportunity to pause and reflect on my own personal priorities and based on that I truly believe it is time to seek a new professional challenge”.

Elsewhere in politics, the foreign secretary has said that Israel should “stop and think seriously” before taking further action in Rafah in the south of Gaza.

The warning comes after Israeli air strikes killed at least 44 Palestinians, including children, in the city which is currently where more than half of the besieged enclave’s population are taking refuge.

Lord David Cameron said: “We are very concerned about what is happening in Rafah, because let’s be clear the people there, many of who have moved four, five, six times before getting there.

“It really, we think, is impossible to see how you can fight a war amongst these people, there is nowhere for them to go.

“They can’t go south into Egypt, they can’t go north and back to their homes because many have been destroyed.

“So we are very concerned about the situation and we want Israel to stop and think seriously before it takes any further action.

“But above all, what we want is an immediate pause in the fighting. We want that pause to lead to a ceasefire, a sustainable ceasefire without a return to further fighting. That is what should happen now.

“We need to get those hostages out, including the British nationals. We need to get the aid in. The best way to do that is to stop the fighting now and turn that into a permanent, sustainable ceasefire.”

Rishi Sunak faces another challenging week with two tricky by-elections, further scrutiny of his Rwanda Asylum Bill and potentially gloomy economic figures being released on Thursday.

It follows another difficult week in which he faced a backlash after making a transgender joke in the Commons while the mother of murdered transgender teenager Brianna Ghey was visiting Parliament.

He was also criticised for accepting a £1,000 bet with broadcaster Piers Morgan on the success of his flagship Rwanda scheme before the election.

Accusations the Tory leader is out of touch resurfaced when the publication of his tax summary highlighted his vast wealth.

It showed he paid an effective tax rate of 23%, the same as a teacher, on his earnings of £2.2 million, because most of it was in the form of capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than income.

A shadow minister has insisted it would be “unfair” to conclude there is a problem with Labour in Rochdale amid criticism of remarks about Israel made by the party’s constituency candidate.

Nick Thomas-Symonds said he believed that Azhar Ali, who claimed the country had allowed Hamas to inflict its October 7 attack, had fallen “for an online conspiracy theory.”

The Labour hopeful has apologised after he was recorded suggesting in a meeting of the Lancashire Labour Party that Israel had taken the assault as a pretext to invade Gaza.

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