CAMPAIGNERS have accused Labour of ideological bullying after MP Kim Johnson was forced to apologise by party whips for calling Israel an apartheid state.

The MP for Liverpool Riverside withdrew the comments last week after she referred to Israel’s new government as fascist and asked PM Rishi Sunak what he was doing to challenge what Amnesty and other human rights organisations are referring to as an apartheid state.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s office described her remarks as completely unacceptable and ordered her to withdraw them.