Conservative MP Paul Bristow has hit back at the Labour Party and leader Sir Keir Starmer as they ‘stand by’ Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali,
Speaking to GB News presenters today Bristow said: “Well, it's an embarrassing situation granted, but I think when there is a situation like this, you've got to demonstrate what you stand for and your values.
“And if I were Sir Keir Starmer - I perish the thought that I would ever lead a major political party - but if I was Sir Keir Starmer, I would make it clear that if this man should win that by election, he wouldn't be a member of the Labour Party or a Parliamentary party.
“The last thing I would do would be sending members of the shadow cabinet to stand next to him grinning and endorsing him because that causes a great deal of offence to many Jewish people.
“And let's just remember what it is he said here. People might say, ‘Oh, all he's doing is criticising the state of Israel’.
“No, what he's suggesting is that Israel would somehow do this deliberately to try and invade Gaza. And it's part of a trope that Jews somehow want to go around killing people. That's grossly offensive.
“It's not like he happened to come on to some sort of conspiracy theory. What he said is grossly offensive. And if anyone in the Conservative Party had said such a thing, their feet wouldn't touch the ground.”
