Labour condemns harassment of its candidates in pro-Palestinian areas

Yvette Cooper has condemned the harassment of Labour candidates and canvassers, amid reports of intimidation in some pro-Palestinian areas across the UK.

The shadow home secretary warned about “intimidation, abuse and harassment”, as pro-Palestinian activists in seats including Bethnal Green and Birmingham Ladywood clashed with Labour supporters.

Videos circulating on WhatsApp show anti-Labour activists following and shouting at supporters of the Labour candidate Rushanara Ali in Bethnal Green, east London, while another image shows a fake Labour leaflet depicting her with devil horns.

In Birmingham, supporters of Labour’s Shabana Mahmood called the police twice over the weekend to complain about being harassed while out canvassing.

In Stoke, some worshippers at the Stoke Central mosque demanded that Labour supporters resign from its committee, warning they would start regular protests in the mosque if they did not.

Cooper said: “We cannot allow intimidation, abuse and harassment of candidates or volunteers to undermine our democracy. People can debate and disagree in a serious way without disgraceful intimidation or threats that damage communities. Everybody must be able to take part in our democratic processes free from fear, intimidation or abuse.”

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Labour is under pressure in many areas with high pro-Palestinian populations because of the stance the party previously took towards the conflict in Gaza, including refusing to vote for a Scottish National party motion calling for an immediate ceasefire there. Many Labour frontbenchers who followed party orders and abstained on that vote have since been targeted in their constituencies for doing so.

The party has since changed its position and passed a separate motion through the Commons calling for a ceasefire.

The pressure has increased in recent days after comments by Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, who singled out Bangladeshis as among those who are not being deported if their asylum claims fail due to backlogs in the processing system.

In Bethnal Green and Bow, home to one of Britain’s largest Bangladeshi populations, Ali is running against the high-profile independent candidate Ajmal Masroor. Masroor is supportive of the controversial Tower Hamlets mayor Lutfur Rahman, and has the endorsement of George Galloway, who is standing for re-election in Rochdale.

Masroor recently posted a video falsely claiming Starmer had a policy of “fast-track deportation to Bangladesh”.

On Tuesday night, Labour volunteers in Bethnal Green said they were confronted by people who shouted: “You are Rushanara’s slave. You’re a fucking disgrace.”

The situation has got so tense in the constituency that the local Labour party emailed supporters this week urging them to continue canvassing. “The vitriolic and misogynistic lies spread by some campaigners has been a constant presence – and it is going to get worse as polling day approaches,” the message said.

Galloway recently told a rally in east London: “If he had said what he said about you about some of the Pakistani people I run around with, there would have been very serious trouble already. Labour councillors pretending to be Pakistanis, Labour MPs pretending to be Pakistanis, they would have been forced to resign on their doorsteps by a large crowd of angry constituents.”

Peter Ford, the deputy leader of Galloway’s party, told the Guardian: “He was clearly voicing an honest opinion that by denigrating Bengali people in the incendiary fashion he did, Keir Starmer was asking for trouble.”

Masroor said: “I do not condone the harassment and intimidation of my opponents”.

In Birmingham Ladywood, Mahmood is facing Akhmed Yakoob, who has also been endorsed by Galloway and who was previously criticised for posting a doctored video falsely showing a Labour canvasser using a racial slur about an Asian voter.

Labour activists in the area say they were verbally abused while out campaigning, while a teenage canvasser in a neighbouring constituency was reported to have been told by a rival’s supporter she would “never wash off the blood of dead Gazan children”.

In Rochdale, activists for the group Hope Not Hate say they have been followed and harassed by people in cars while campaigning against Galloway’s re-election as an MP.

Nick Lowles, the chief executive of Hope Not Hate, said: “We have been alarmed at the targeting of, particularly, women candidates, and particularly Muslim women candidates. Several candidates have been subject to abusive and threatening behaviour.”

• This article was amended on 3 July 2024 to add a comment from Ajmal Masroor.