AN ALLEGED anti-semitic insult hurled at a candidate standing for parliamentary election in Bradford West has been reported to police as a hate crime.

The incident occurred at a hustings events hosted by JUST Yorkshire at the Carlisle Business Centre in Bradford on Wednesday.

It is understood the insult relates to the word ‘Jew’ being shouted at Labour candidate Naz Shah after she spoke to the audience about her beliefs in Israel’s right to exist.

JUST said it had been informed via social media about the alleged audience comments after the event, and after reviewing footage, had confirmed that anti-semitic comments had been made.

It said it had now reported the matter to police as a “hate incident.”

JUST chairman, Nadeem Murtuja, said: “Let me make it clear, JUST Yorkshire condemns every form of hate, racism, islamophobia, and antisemitism. If I had heard the comment on the night of the hustings, we would have immediately brought an end to the proceedings.

“Anti-semitism has no place in civil and democratic society, and we are all obligated to stamp all forms of hate from every aspect of society.

“We would like to place on record our sincere thanks to the member of the audience that highlighted the anti-semitic comments via social media, and in the strongest terms we will provide our utmost support to this person.

“We will make no further comments at this stage, and we will fully co-operate with the authorities to identify the perpetrator.”

In response to the incident, Michaela Vyse, Yorkshire and East Coast regional manager at the Jewish Leadership Council said: “We’re disappointed and saddened to see that at the hustings in Bradford West, the term “Jew” was used as an abusive term towards a candidate.

“We’re very disappointed to see this take part in a debate in Yorkshire.”

A spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said: "On June 2, police in Bradford received a report of a hate incident.

"Enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances."