LABOUR officials have purged eight black councillors in a London borough because of their support for Gaza.

In a move condemned as a “stitch-up,” the eight have been barred by party functionaries from seeking re-election as Labour candidates in next year’s elections in Brent, north-west London, overriding local members in the highly diverse borough.

The witch-hunt appears to have been backed by Georgia Gould, one of the local MPs and controversial councillor Shama Tatler, according to local reports.

Known as “tower block Tatler” on account of her predilection for high-rise housing, Ms Tatler attracted opprobrium last year after she was parachuted into the Chingford constituency following the axing of popular local candidate Faiza Shaheen on the eve of the general election.

Local reports claim that Ms Tatler, defeated in Chingford, was pushing for the party centrally to take councillor selection in Brent out of the hands of local party members.

The eight, who include Labour group chief whip Iman Moghaddam, all signed a statement backing a Gaza ceasefire in October 2023, when the demand was anathema to the Starmer leadership.  

The borough has also twinned with the Palestinian city of Nablus.

However, white councillors who backed the same call appear to have survived the cull.

One local party member called the selection process “as corrupt as it’s ever been,” while another said the deselections removed half the left councillors in the group.

Left campaign group Momentum said: “This is the Labour right’s modus operandi.

“Hollow out democracy, attack members’ rights and stitch up selection processes. All those who believe in party democracy must condemn this.”