A NOTTINGHAM Councillor who joined a group that denies and downplays antisemitism within the Labour Party, has been expelled and is now threatening legal action.
Hassan Ahmed, who represents the Radford ward on Nottingham City Council, was expelled from the Labour party on March 22, with no official reason provided.
The PA news agency, however, reports that the expulsion is due to Mr. Ahmed being an alleged member of Labour Against The Witchhunt.
The organisation, banned by the Labour party, campaigns against what it claims to be politically-motivated allegations of antisemitism directed against the party.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), however, has already officially slammed the Labour Party for demonstrable widespread instances of institutionalised antisemitism within its ranks.
Following initial complaints from Campaign Against Antisemitism, and further complaints from the Jewish Labour Movement, the EHRC launched its investigation in May 2019.
The investigation identified serious failings in the Labour Party leadership in addressing antisemitism and an inadequate process for handling antisemitism complaints.
Regarding Councillor Ahmed’s expulsion – just one of a string of similar expulsions that continue to blight the Labour party – a party spokesperson told said: “Hassan Ahmed has been expelled from the Labour Party and will not be standing as a Labour candidate in the upcoming local elections.”
Reacting to his expulsion, Cllr Ahmed said:
“I maintain that it is totally unfair and has been carried out on unfounded grounds, and I am going to take legal action.
“We have tried to communicate with the national Labour Party, but they’re not communicating, they’re not responding to any of our emails, from myself and from my lawyer.
“While it’s unfair to the constituents, it’s also very unfair to the local Labour Party branch members.
“They have already selected me to stand for this upcoming election on May 4, and now, as I understand, the Labour Party is going to impose, undemocratically, another person in my place to contest this election.
“This will be totally unacceptable to the local members, and I don’t think local constituents (will) be very happy with it.”