Election row over 'genocide' leaflet claims

The Labour Party has called on an opposition candidate standing in Bedfordshire's police and crime commissioner (PCC) election to withdraw a leaflet claiming Labour supports genocide.

Waheed Akbar from The Workers Party of Britain has a campaign flyer that states, "Don't vote genocide" written next to the Labour Party logo.

Labour's PCC candidate John Tizard said the leaflet was "dangerously false and an insult to every Labour voter".

Mr Akbar accused Labour of a "betrayal of human rights and the working class".

Mr Akbar, a former Luton councillor and the town's former mayor, was a member of the Labour Party for more than 30 years but resigned from the party in October over Sir Keir Starmer's stance on Palestine.

At the time he wrote on Facebook that he had been "a long standing member of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign and has been supporting the Palestine cause".

In a statement to the BBC, he said Labour had "done too little too late" over Gaza and had failed to call for an arms embargo.

"I have particular truck with Labour because we expect a low bar from the Tories, but Labour’s betrayal of human rights and the working class is unconscionable," he said.

Conservative candidate Festus Akinbusoye declined to comment.

Mr Tizard told the BBC: "This election is about improving policing, the criminal justice system, and community safety in Bedfordshire.

"This is what I am focused on, as are the electors. So should every serious candidate, my policy plan does precisely that."

"Labour is not in government so is not responsible for UK foreign policy. And the PCC most certainly is not.

"For the record, Labour is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, much more humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza, for international law and the International Court of Justice's interim judgment to be upheld and for all hostages to be released. That has been my personal position since the conflict began."

The other candidate in the elections on Thursday, 2 May is Liberal Democrat Jasbir Singh Parmar.

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