Labour’s Lord Ahmed suspended after ‘Jewish conspiracy’ claims

Labour suspended one of its peers as it launched an investigation into allegations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his imprisonment for dangerous driving.

According to The Times, Lord Ahmed blamed his prison sentence – for sending text messages shortly before his car was involved in a fatal crash – on pressure placed on the courts by Jews “who own newspapers and TV channels”.

The Muslim peer allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcast in Pakistan that the judge who jailed him for 12 weeks was appointed to the High Court after helping a “Jewish colleague” of Tony Blair during an important case.

Following publication of the remarks in The Times, a Labour spokesman said: “The Labour Party deplores and does not tolerate any sort of anti-Semitism. Following reports in The Times we are suspending Lord Ahmed pending an investigation.”