Labour calls on Rishi Sunak to suspend Dover candidate

Labour called on the Conservative Party to suspend its candidate for Dover and Deal, Stephen James, after he posted an image that Labour described as “anti-Semitic”.

Mr James published a cartoon showing hook-nosed men on the white cliffs of Dover carrying bags full of “false hopes”.

In a now-deleted post on X (formerly Twitter), he criticized the so-called “carpetbaggers” and claimed that he was “the only true local candidate.”

Mr James told the BBC he “wholeheartedly apologises for any offence caused by this image” and has since deleted it from social media.

He added that the image was “created by an artificial intelligence that normally has safeguards in place to prevent the creation of malicious images, but in this case was not sufficient.”

During a visit to Kent, Labour’s shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said: “I call on Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives to disqualify this candidate from the election. Anyone who publishes such material is unfit to be an MP.”

Ms Thornberry said this showed an “appalling lack of judgement”.

A Labour Party spokesman said that “the sharing of anti-Semitic material was unacceptable.”

The spokesman added: “Rishi Sunak should condemn Mr James’ actions and immediately suspend him as a candidate.”

A Conservative Party spokesman said: “The party has spoken to this individual and reminded them of the party’s code of conduct and the standards expected of candidates, including on social media.”

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