Party candidate sorry for offensive Facebook posts

Tayab Ali remains the Workers Party of Britain candidate for Rossendale and Darwen

A parliamentary candidate in Lancashire has been accused of posting derogatory comments on his Facebook page.

Tayab Ali shared posts including one which appeared to call members of the Royal Family and celebrities paedophiles.

He is standing in Rossendale and Darwen for the Workers Party of Britain, whose logo appears on his Facebook page.

Mr Ali, who has since deleted the posts and apologised, remains the party's candidate.

'A pattern'

Other messages included derogatory language directed towards Jewish and Hindu people and some aimed at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Another included a super-imposed image of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.

Jude Rowley, who lives in the constituency, contacted BBC North West Tonight expressing concern about many of the messages on Mr Ali’s page.

He said: "This wasn’t a one-off remark or someone choosing words poorly - this is a pattern.

"As residents of Rossendale and Darwen we are entitled to demand better really of the political discourse in our area."

Posts deleted

A spokesman for The Workers Party of Britain confirmed Mr Ali was still their parliamentary candidate and said he had "realised his error in judgement and unreservedly apologises for any offence caused".

He continued: "The offending posts have since been deleted. We trust this will be the end of the matter.

"The Workers Party is committed to a zero-tolerance attitude to any form of discrimination unlike the Labour Party, we do not operate a hierarchy of racism nor tolerate the concept."

Both the Labour and Conservative parties declined to comment.

The party was founded by George Galloway - a former Labour and Respect MP - in 2019 but rose to prominence after he won the Rochdale by-election earlier this year.

Mr Rowley, who is an ambassador for the Holocaust Educational Trust, and stood to be a Labour councillor, added “I don’t think an apology is enough. I respect that he’s apologised but it’s not the end of the matter.

"This is such a consistent and concerning pattern it makes me think that something more is needed in this case.”

The Workers Party of Britain confirmed Mr Ali was still their parliamentary candidate for Rossendale and Darwen and he was not available for an interview.

Also standing for Rossendale and Darwen in the general election are:

• Bob Bauld - Green Party

• Jake Berry - Conservative

• Rowan Fitton - Liberal Democrat

• Andy MacNae - Labour

• Daniel Matchett - Reform UK