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| Tim Farron sacks Lib Dem candidate for 'deeply offensive and antisemitic' comments | Tim Farron sacks Lib Dem candidate for 'deeply offensive and antisemitic' comments |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Liberal Democrats have barred former Bradford East MP David Ward from standing again for the party, after Tim Farron said his comments about Jews had been “deeply offensive, wrong and antisemitic”. | |
| Ward had been chosen by his local party to stand in Bradford East, the seat he held from 2010 until 2015, when he was ousted by Labour. | |
| But after criticism from Theresa May in the Commons and a meeting of senior Lib Dem officials, Farron said: “I believe in a politics that is open, tolerant and united. David Ward is unfit to represent the party and I have sacked him.” | But after criticism from Theresa May in the Commons and a meeting of senior Lib Dem officials, Farron said: “I believe in a politics that is open, tolerant and united. David Ward is unfit to represent the party and I have sacked him.” |
| May criticised Ward’s selection after a question from Eric Pickles during prime minister’s questions. Pickles, who will retire at the June election, asked if May “shares my disgust that a former member of this house criticised by the home affairs select committee for antisemitism has been selected for Bradford East for the Liberal Democrats?” | May criticised Ward’s selection after a question from Eric Pickles during prime minister’s questions. Pickles, who will retire at the June election, asked if May “shares my disgust that a former member of this house criticised by the home affairs select committee for antisemitism has been selected for Bradford East for the Liberal Democrats?” |
| The prime minister said Pickles was “right to highlight Bradford” and said people would be “disappointed to see the Liberal Democrats re-adopt a candidate with a questionable record on antisemitism”. | |
| Ward was suspended from the party for three months in 2013 after a series of comments including, in a blog about Holocaust Memorial Day, accusing “the Jews” of “inflicting atrocities on Palestinians”. | Ward was suspended from the party for three months in 2013 after a series of comments including, in a blog about Holocaust Memorial Day, accusing “the Jews” of “inflicting atrocities on Palestinians”. |
| Ward has also said he would be willing to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel and praised the Labour MP Naz Shah after she was suspended by her party for antisemitic posts on Facebook. | Ward has also said he would be willing to fire rockets from Gaza into Israel and praised the Labour MP Naz Shah after she was suspended by her party for antisemitic posts on Facebook. |
| At a rally in St Albans on Wednesday Farron said he disagreed with Ward’s comments and hinted the party could take action. | |
| “I am fully aware of the comments David Ward has made in the past and I find them deeply offensive, wrong and antisemitic,” he said. “I think his decision to stand again, and the local party’s decision to select him, is wrong and I disagree with it completely. | “I am fully aware of the comments David Ward has made in the past and I find them deeply offensive, wrong and antisemitic,” he said. “I think his decision to stand again, and the local party’s decision to select him, is wrong and I disagree with it completely. |
| “I don’t select our individual candidates and nor should I. But let me be clear, I won’t tolerate antisemitism in my party. David Ward has been disciplined in the past and if he or anyone else makes antisemitic remarks in this campaign I will expect the party to act quickly and decisively, as we did when we suspended a candidate in Luton South yesterday.” | “I don’t select our individual candidates and nor should I. But let me be clear, I won’t tolerate antisemitism in my party. David Ward has been disciplined in the past and if he or anyone else makes antisemitic remarks in this campaign I will expect the party to act quickly and decisively, as we did when we suspended a candidate in Luton South yesterday.” |
| The Luton candidate, Ashuk Ahmed, was suspended over Facebook posts that compared Zionism to the Nazis. | |
| Ward’s reselection by his local party appeared to take Lib Dem chiefs by surprise when it emerged on Tuesday night. The party had selected the vast majority of its candidates over the past year in preparation for a snap election, but Bradford East had not been among them. | Ward’s reselection by his local party appeared to take Lib Dem chiefs by surprise when it emerged on Tuesday night. The party had selected the vast majority of its candidates over the past year in preparation for a snap election, but Bradford East had not been among them. |