Labour's Scrutiny Of Potential MPs Is In The Firing Line After Rochdale Row

Labour insiders have defended the rigour of the process by which prospective MPs are selected after calls to tighten vetting in the wake of fallout over comments made by the party's former Rochdale by-election candidate Azhar Ali.

Ali was suspended from the party and had Labour support withdrawn from his Rochdale by-election campaign after comments he made at a local meeting, in which he suggested that Israel had “allowed” the Hamas attack in October, were reported by the Mail on Sunday. Ali has since apologised. 

Louise Ellman, the former Liverpool MP who resigned from the party in 2019 over her concerns about antisemitism in the party before rejoining in 2021, told Times Radio that there “clearly hasn’t been” scrutiny.

"What’s been disclosed in the last few days is really dreadful and one of the things it does show is that there clearly hasn’t been proper scrutiny in selecting candidates. Ellman, told the station on Wednesday. “Labour has to act and be very careful on the selection of future candidates.”

Mike Katz, the national chair of the Jewish Labour Movement raised similar questions, when he told the Financial Times that there needs to be recognition that “post October 7, there’s been a quantum change in the amount of conspiracy theories and misinformation floating around social media,” a reference to the Hama attacks in Israel.  

“It’s incredibly divisive and we need to ensure these haven’t been picked up or propagated by people who want to, or do, represent Labour,” he added.

Labour figures with knowledge of the selections process hope the events of the past week will motivate those responsible for selections to ensure the process is as robust as possible as the general election looms. But there remains a belief