I’ve never been anti-Semitic insists Muslim peer

Lord Ahmed of Rotherham was due to appear before Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee today to answer accusations that he blamed a Jewish conspiracy for his dangerous driving jail term.

He insists he does not recall making the alleged comments, and his solicitor Stephen Smith said he would not be able to receive a “fair trial” from the Labour panel.

A Labour Party spokesman said: “I can confirm that he has resigned from the party.”

Lord Ahmed was suspended from the Labour Party in March after The Times reported that he blamed his 2009 prison sentence – for sending text messages shortly before his car was involved in a fatal crash on the M1 in South Yorkshire – on pressure placed on the courts by Jews “who own newspapers and TV channels”.

The Muslim peer allegedly told an Urdu-language broadcaster 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.

Lord Ahmed said he had “never been anti-semitic” and “unreservedly apologised” for any offence caused to the Jewish community.

He added: “I don’t want my friends in the Labour Party to think that I have walked away, but the rules of justice demand it.”