A FORMER mayor of Blackburn has been reinstated as a Labour Party member after an investigation into alleged anti-Semitic social media posts.
Former chairman of the Lancashire Council Mosque and Queen’s Park councillor Salim Mulla said he was ‘absolutely delighted ‘to have been cleared of the allegations.
Cllr Mulla was suspended from Labour in May along with Burnley representative for Daneshouse with Stoneyholme Cllr Shah Hussain as the party dealt with a string of claims of anti-Semitic comments.
He said he was glad he had been investigated and cleared of the allegations.
Cllr Shah was reinstated last year.
Cllr Mulla said: “I am absolutely delighted to be back in the Labour Party.
“I have never been anti-Semitic and have many friends who are Jewish from working with the Inter-Faith Forum.
“I have led the Holocaust Memorial Day on the steps of Blackburn Town Hall many times.
“It is welcome that the Labour Party has investigated these claims and cleared me.
“In my career, I have alway been prepared to criticise people who do the wrong thing and have criticised the government in India and Pakistan over their treatment of Christians.
“My social media posts were solely concerns about the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli government and not about the Jewish people as a whole.”
Phil Riley, Blackburn Labour agent, said: “Salim has been a long-standing Labour party supporter, member and councillor.
“Knowing him as I do, I never believed Salim was in anyway anti-Semitic.
“He accepts some of his social media posts were unwise.
“It is good to have him back.”
A Labour Party spokeswoman confirmed Cllr Mulla had been reinstated.
The suspensions followed action against former London mayor Ken Livingstone. for suggesting Hitler was a Zionist and Labour MP Naz Shaq for suggesting on Facebook that Israel should be moved to America.
At the time, Labour also suspended a third councillor, Nottingham city’s Ilyas Aziz, for allegedly anti-Semitic comments on social media.
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