Bradford MP Naz Shah suspended over anti-Semitic social media posts

In a statement, Labour said Ms Shah and Mr Corbyn had agreed she should be “administratively suspended” while an investigation was held.

In a chaotic day for Labour, the decision came just hours after Ms Shah had made a “profound apology” to MPs in the Commons over the posts including one which appeared to endorse the relocation of Jews from Israel to America and another comparing “Apartheid Israel” to “Hitler”.

And it followed an earlier statement from Mr Corbyn rebuking Ms Shah over the posts but without any indication further action would follow.

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This afternoon’s statement said: “Jeremy Corbyn and Naz Shah have mutually agreed that she is administratively suspended from the Labour Party by the General Secretary.

“Pending investigation, she is unable to take part in any party activity and the whip is removed.”

Speaking in the Commons this afternoon, Ms Shah had told fellow MPs that she regretted the posts made before she became an MP and would work to improve interfaith relations.

“I accept and understand that the words I used caused upset and hurt to the Jewish community and I deeply regret that.

“Anti-Semitism is racism full-stop. As an MP I will do everything in my power to build relations between Muslims and Jews and people of different faiths and none.

“I am grateful and very thankful for the support and advice I have received from many Jewish friends and colleagues, advice I intend to act upon.

“I truly regret what I did and I hope, I sincerely hope, that this House will accept my profound apology,” she said.

Her statement came as Labour MPs demanded answers from the leadership over reports it edited Ms Shah’s article for Jewish News, removing references to anti-Semitism.

BuzzFeed news said it had seen an original version drawn up by the MP’s office which included an admission that she had “helped promote anti-Semitic tropes”, which did not appear in the version on the publication’s website.

In another apparently dropped passage, she allegedly called for “an intersectional struggle, one where the concerns of Jewish individuals and communities are taken seriously and anti-Semitism is not dismissed out of hand or ignored”.

References to a wider problem of anti-Semitism among left-wing activists - an issue on which Mr Corbyn has been under mounting pressure to act - were also missing in the final article, Buzzfeed said.

“We on the left must stop procrastinating and tackle oppression within our own ranks, especially anti-Jewish oppression,” Ms Shah was said to have written.

In another change, “referencing Israel in comparison to Nazi Germany” was replaced with “referring to Israel and Hitler”.

MP John Woodcock said: “This is incredibly serious - feel sick if this is as reported. Needs full explanation of whether true and who edited.”

Earlier today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had described the posts as “offensive and unacceptable” but stopped short of suspending her from the party.

In his statement, Mr Corbyn said: “What Naz Shah did was offensive and unacceptable. I have spoken to her and made this clear.

“These are historic social media posts made before she was a Member of Parliament.

“Naz has issued a fulsome apology. She does not hold these views and accepts she was completely wrong to have made these posts.

“The Labour Party is implacably opposed to anti-Semitism and all forms of racism.”

Labour has faced a series of allegations of anti-Semitism by councillors and activists in recent weeks.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions and before Ms Shah was suspended, David Cameron said: “It is very simple: anti-Semitism is effectively racism, and we should call it out and fight it wherever we see it.

“Frankly, the fact that a Labour Member of Parliament, with the Labour Whip, made remarks about the “transportation” of people from Israel to America, talked about a “solution” and is still in receipt of the Labour Whip is quite extraordinary.”