Seven councillors in Slough have resigned from Labour in a significant escalation of a party row over the treatment of two of its prospective parliamentary candidates, Diane Abbott and Faiza Shaheen.
The septet of officials - Zaffar Ajaib, Sabia Akram, Haqeeq Dar, Mohammed Nazir, Naveeda Qaseem, Waqas Sabah and Jamilia Sabah - all announced their resignation late last night in a statement which also took aim at Labour's position on the conflict in Gaza and comments made by Slough's Labour parliamentary candidate Tan Dhesi.
The councillors' statement read: "We, the undersigned members and Labour Councillors of the Slough Constituency Labour Party, express our profound disillusionment and anger.
"We, the rank-and-file members, are left with no option but to resign. We must stay true to our values and conscience, even if the party we once believed in has abandoned them."
Diane Abbott (right) claimed that both she and Faiza Shaheen had been victims of a "cull" on Labour's hard left
PA
Their letter claims they have been "gagged and silenced", and slammed Labour's "decision to support the Conservative Government amidst ongoing humanitarian crises and war crimes" as a "shocking betrayal of our core values".
In their letter, the councillors also described the recent suspension of Faiza Shaheen and "forced deselection" of Diane Abbott as evidence of "institutional racism" within Labour, and claimed they too have "faced threats of deselection for speaking out against injustices in Gaza and criticising Israel".
While in a scathing attack on Tan Dhesi, the seven officials slated the representative - who had served Slough as an MP from the 2017 General Election until Parliament's dissolution last week - claiming he had "stoked division" between religious groups in what is a majority-Asian constituency.
Signing off, the officials claim "insurmountable barriers" had been placed on their ability to raise residents' concerns at a local and national level, which had left them "with no option but to resign".
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Councillors claimed Tan Dhesi had "stoked division" between religious groups in his majority-Asian constituency
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Abbott, who was elected as Britain’s first black female MP in 1987, lost the Labour whip after penning an incendiary letter to the Observer comparing antisemitism to hate received by people with ginger hair.
Following a lengthy internal inquiry, the whip was restored - and Starmer has since given Abbott the green light to stand on July 4 - but regardless, the Labour leader has been accused of leading a "cull of left-wingers".
Another of those "culled", Faiza Shaheen, the Labour candidate for Chingford and Woodford Green, had been barred from standing after a slew of alleged social media misconduct came to light.
Shaheen has said she was left in a "state of shock" at "being treated this badly" - and her deselection has inspired significant backlash from hard-left commentators.
Sir Keir Starmer has finally let Diane Abbott stand following a year-long antisemitism row
PA
The backlash against Labour - and, especially, against Tan Dhesi, marks just the latest instance of the conflict in Gaza taking its toll on British politics.
Like in Rochdale, where George Galloway exploited demographic factors to surge to by-election victory earlier this year, parties and pressure groups which once may have seen fringe support have been able to take advantage of the major parties' stance on the latest flare-up in tensions in the Middle East among Muslim or Asian voters in order to chase success.
But regardless of nationwide protests which have slammed his party, Starmer has nonetheless insisted a Labour government would have a "duty" to play a "full part" in resolving the conflict for the long-term.
A Labour spokesperson told GB News: "We are focussed on electing a Labour government and delivering the change that people in Slough and across the country need."