THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Labour has suspended a peer who is alleged to have blamed a Jewish conspiracy for the imprisonment he received over a fatal motorway crash.
The Times has reported [£] that Lord Ahmed, a Labour life peer, claimed that he received his prison sentenced because of pressure on the courts from Jews “who own newspapers and TV channels".
Lord Ahmed, who in 1998 became the first Muslim life peer, is said to have claimed that the conspiracy was a result of his support for the Palestinians in Gaza.
He is said to have made the comments in a TV interview in April last year while on a visit to Pakistan.
Labour today suspended the peer "pending an investigation".
Ed Miliband, the Labour leader said: "I think that the comments reported by Lord Ahmed are disgraceful comments.
"There's no place for anti-semitism in the Labour Party, and frankly anybody who makes those kinds of comments cannot be either a Labour lord or a Labour member of Parliament."
Lord Ahmed, who was born in Pakistan, became Baron Ahmed of Rotherham at the age of 40.
In 2007 he was highly critical of the awarding of a knighthood to Salman Rushdie, claiming the author had "blood on his hands."
In 2009 he was jailed for dangerous driving after sending and receiving text messages minutes before being involved in a fatal motorway crash. The Court of Appeal later suspended his 12-week jail sentence. » | Peter Dominiczak, Political Corresponden | Thursday, March 14, 2013
