Naz Shah apologises and quits as frontbench aide over Israel “relocation” plan

Naz Shah has resigned as aide to shadow Chancellor John McDonnell after it emerged she backed plans to “relocate” Israel to the US.

Shah, who defeated George Galloway to become Bradford West MP last year, has admitted to authoring a series of Facebook posts in 2014, including one supporting a “solution” to the Israel/Palestine conflict that would see the “transportation” of the state of Israel to the US.

Today Shah quit as Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to McDonnell. In a statement issued by Labour, Shah said: “This post from two years ago was made before I was an MP, does not reflect my views and I apologise for any offence it has caused.”

However, since the initial post on Guido Fawkes this morning further comments made by Shah have come to light, prompting the MP to step down from her junior frontbench position. In one post, linking to an online poll about whether readers believed Israel had committed war crimes, Shah wrote that “the Jews are rallying to the poll”, and urged people to vote “yes”.

Resigning from her position, she said:

“I deeply regret the hurt I have caused by comments made on social media before I was elected as an MP. I made these posts at the height of the Gaza conflict in 2014, when emotions were running high around the Middle East conflict. But that is no excuse for the offence I have given, for which I unreservedly apologise. In recognition of that offence I have stepped down from my role as PPS to the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell. I will be seeking to expand my existing engagement and dialogue with Jewish community organisations, and will be stepping up my efforts to combat all forms of racism, including anti-semitism.”

McDonnell has been vocal in his condemnation of anti-semitism, calling for any Labour Party members showing the prejudice to be banned from the party for life, and warning that it cannot be allowed to “infect” Labour.

Questions have also been raised about whether Shah should continue to serve on the Home Affairs Select Committee’s investigation into anti-semitism.