Pakistan-born Lord Nazir Ahmed, one of Labour's most prominent Muslim peers in the UK, was suspended by the party on Thursday for allegedly making anti-Jewish remarks.
The peer had been jailed for dangerous driving back in 2009 and he is believed to have blamed his imprisonment on a ‘Jewish conspiracy’.
‘The Labour Party deplores and does not tolerate any sort of racism or anti-Semitism. Following reports in The Times today we are suspending Lord Ahmed pending an investigation,’ a Labour Party spokesperson told reporters.
Lord Ahmed, 55, who became Britain’s first Muslim life peer in 1998, is said to have made the comments in a TV interview during a visit to Pakistan in April last year.
He allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcast that the judge who jailed him for 12 weeks was appointed to the High Court after helping a ‘Jewish colleague’ of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair during an important case and was hand-picked to hear his case.
The peer had been jailed for dangerous driving back in 2009 and he is believed to have blamed his imprisonment on a ‘Jewish conspiracy’.
‘The Labour Party deplores and does not tolerate any sort of racism or anti-Semitism. Following reports in The Times today we are suspending Lord Ahmed pending an investigation,’ a Labour Party spokesperson told reporters.
Lord Ahmed, 55, who became Britain’s first Muslim life peer in 1998, is said to have made the comments in a TV interview during a visit to Pakistan in April last year.
He allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcast that the judge who jailed him for 12 weeks was appointed to the High Court after helping a ‘Jewish colleague’ of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair during an important case and was hand-picked to hear his case.