Labour drops 'pro-Palestine' candidate Faiza Shaheen, sparking backlash

Social media users have accused the UK's Labour Party of purging candidates who are critical of Israel, after Faiza Shaheen was deselected for liking several social media posts, including ones which touched upon Israel and Palestine.

Shaheen, who was due to stand for Labour in the London seat of Chingford and Woodford Green, revealed on Wednesday that she was in a state of shock after receiving an email saying her candidacy had been blocked. 

Speaking to BBC’s Newsnight programme, she said that she received an email  informing her that she was be barred from running for the party just an hour before the show because her running would “frustrate Labour’s purpose”.

"I'm out campaigning and my phone's blowing up, they’ve briefed the press. They briefed the press before they even had the decency to call me and talk to me," she said.

She went on to say that the tweets in question were from about a decade ago - some about the Green Party and one about her "experiences of Islamophobia within the party".

Read more: Labour drops 'pro-Palestine' candidate Faiza Shaheen, sparking backlash