Graham Jones had his suspension lifted in May last year and is standing for election in Lancashire
A former Labour MP who was suspended last year over comments he allegedly made about Israel is standing for the party in May’s local elections.
Graham Jones was suspended as the 2024 general election candidate for Hyndburn after a recording emerged of him saying “f**king Israel” and stating that Britons who volunteer to fight for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) “should be locked up”.
He was the second candidate effectively suspended in quick succession in February 2024 after Labour withdrew its support for Azhar Ali, the Rochdale by-election candidate, who was reported to have said that Israel had deliberately allowed the 7 October attacks. His comments were alleged to have been made at the same meeting as Jones’s.
Jones had his suspension lifted in May last year after former Labour minister Ed Balls said his ex-colleague was “absolutely not anti-Israel”. However, he did not go forward as the Hyndburn candidate in the general election.
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The ex-MP is now standing as the party’s candidate for councillor in Accrington South, a seat on Lancashire County Council, in the 1 May local elections in a bid to win the seat from the Conservatives.
A Labour source said: “Lifting the suspension is one thing, allowing him to stand is another entirely.”
In a Facebook post, Jones said he had been “kindly asked by the national party” to stand as a candidate.
Friends said they had advised him against standing after he received a letter from senior levels of the party to persuade him to run.
However, Jones decided he wanted to get elected to help local people and oust the incumbent Tory and believed he was the only person who could win the seat for Labour.
At the time of his alleged remarks, the Jewish Labour Movement said Jones’s alleged comments were “appalling and unacceptable”.
Conservative then-foreign minister Andrew Mitchell said that the UK “recognises the right of British nationals with additional nationalities to serve in the legitimately recognised armed forces of the country of their other nationalities”.
“The IDF is a recognised armed force and British nationals are both able to volunteer into the Israel Defence Forces and eligible for national service.
“For Israel, one does not have to be Israeli to serve in the Israel Defence Forces.”
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Since Jones’s suspension and Labour’s subsequent election win, the Government halted some arms sales to Israel due to concerns about whether the country was complying with international humanitarian law in its offensive against Hamas in Gaza, which has led to thousands of civilian deaths according to local officials.
Earlier this month, The Guardian reported that Michael Mansfield KC was one of a group of lawyers who were due to hand a dossier to Scotland Yard alleging war crimes against 10 Britons who served with the IDF in Gaza.
Downing Street has meanwhile indicated that Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu would be arrested if he came to Britain after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants against him and former defence secretary Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Candidate selected per ‘rules and procedures’
After the party withdrew support for Ali, George Galloway controversially won the Rochdale by-election for the Workers Party of Britain in February 2024, but was unseated by Labour’s Paul Waugh in the general election in July.
Ali apologised for his remarks, saying they had been “deeply offensive, ignorant, and false”.
Sarah Smith went on to win the Hyndburn seat back for Labour, ousting the Tories in the general election.
Jones declined to comment.
A Labour Party spokesperson said: “All candidate selections are conducted in line with the Labour Party’s rules and procedures.”
