Conservatives launch investigations into three candidates over alleged anti-semitism

The Conservatives have launched investigations into three general election candidates accused of anti-semitism.



According to The Guradian, Sally-Ann Hart - who is standing for the party in the marginal seat of Hastings - shared a video with an image implying the billionaire George Soros, who is Jewish, controls the EU, while she also liked a Nazi slogan on Facebook.

Lee Anderson, standing for the Conservatives in the Labour-held marginal of Ashfield, is a member of the Ashfield Backs Boris Facebook group, which has also promoted Soros conspiracy theories.

And Richard Short, the Tory candidate in St Helens South and Whiston, asked whether a Jewish journalist was more loyal to Israel than to Britain.

In a statement, the Conservatives said: "Discrimination or abuse of any kind is wrong, and the Conservative Party takes decisive action to deal with any incidents of hatred, abuse or intimidation.

"We are committed to stamping out the scourge of antisemitism in our society and supporting our Jewish community.

"Our complaints process is rightly a confidential one but there are a wide range of sanctions to challenge and change behaviour, including conditions to undertake training, periods of suspension and expulsion, and these are applied on a case-by-case basis.”

But Labour said the pair should be suspended by their party. Andrew Gwynne, the party's national campaign co-ordinator, said: "Johnson must answer for the anti-semitism being promoted in his name.

"He said members who make racist comments are 'out first bounce'. So, why is he refusing to suspend these three candidates, none of whom appear to have apologised?

“Johnson has never called out and condemned anti-semitic Soros narratives among his supporters. On the contrary, the Conservatives whipped their MEPs to vote in support of the Hungarian government which peddles the Soros conspiracy and appointed a senior government adviser who promotes this narrative.

"Anti-semitism is clearly rife in the Conservative Party from top to bottom."