http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9929154/Labour-peer-Lord-Ahmed-suspended-over-claims-he-blamed-imprisonment-on-Jewish-conspiracy.html
Labour peer Lord Ahmed suspended over claims he blamed imprisonment on ‘Jewish conspiracy’
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”.
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.
He was freed after serving 16 days in jail after Martyn Gombar, a 28-year-old Slovakian was killed on Christmas Day in 2007 after his stationary car was hit by Lord Ahmed’s Jaguar.
In the TV broadcast it is alleged Lord Ahmed said of his jail sentence: “My case became more critical because I went to Gaza to support Palestinians. My Jewish friends who own newspapers and TV channels opposed this.”
A criminal law expert told the Times that if Lord Ahmed had made the claims in the UK, he could have faced prosecution for a hate crime.
A spokesman for the Labour Party said they will be “seeking to clarify” the remarks.