Luton Labour councillor suspended over Hitler tweet

Aysegul Gurbuz was elected in May 2015 to represent the High Town ward on Luton Borough Council

A Labour councillor has been suspended from the party over anti-Semitic comments on her Twitter account.

A message on Luton councillor Aysegul Gurbuz's Twitter feed claimed Hitler was the "greatest man in history".

Another tweet on Ms Gurbaz's account suggested Iran could develop a nuclear weapon to "wipe Israel off the map".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said anyone who makes anti-Semitic remarks is "auto-excluded from the party" pending an inquiry.

The BBC has contacted the councillor for comment.

'Shocked'

The Labour Party has confirmed she has been suspended pending an investigation.

Speaking to the Andrew Marr Show, Mr Corbyn said: "Anti-Semitism is absolutely abhorrent and wrong.

"We have suspended, we will suspend, any member that behaves in that way."

The tweets in question were made before Ms Gurbuz was elected to Luton Borough Council in May 2015.

A spokesman for the council said: "While these comments appear to pre-date her time as a councillor, the council is shocked by these comments.

"This matter will be referred as a matter of urgency to the council's independent standards committee to allow a full investigation to take place."

On Thursday, Mr Corbyn was criticised by a Jewish leader for not taking anti-Semitism seriously enough.