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| Tim Farron sacks Lib Dem candidate for 'antisemitic' comments | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Liberal Democrats have barred the 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”. | The Liberal Democrats have barred the 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.” | 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.” |
| 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 that people would be “disappointed to see the Liberal Democrats readopt a candidate with a questionable record on antisemitism”. | The prime minister said Pickles was “right to highlight Bradford” and that people would be “disappointed to see the Liberal Democrats readopt a candidate with a questionable record on antisemitism”. |
| The Lib Dems are understood to have been monitoring local polling which showed the party had a good chance to retake the seat from Labour. A senior party source said it wanted make a serious effort to win the seat and Ward’s record could not be ignored. | The Lib Dems are understood to have been monitoring local polling which showed the party had a good chance to retake the seat from Labour. A senior party source said it wanted make a serious effort to win the seat and Ward’s record could not be ignored. |
| “The fact that we have thrown out David Ward shows how seriously Tim takes this and how far he is prepared to go to stamp this stuff out,” the source said. | “The fact that we have thrown out David Ward shows how seriously Tim takes this and how far he is prepared to go to stamp this stuff out,” the source said. |
| Ward’s re-selection appeared to take Lib Dem headquarters 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 was not among them. | |
| Ward was suspended from the party for three months in 2013 after a series of controversial comments including a blogpost about Holocaust Memorial Day in which he 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. | 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. | The Luton candidate, Ashuk Ahmed, was suspended over Facebook posts that compared Zionism to the Nazis. |