A FORMER Labour council candidate is among three people nicked by cops probing anti-Semitism claims.
They are thought to be the first arrests linked to the storm engulfing Jeremy Corbyn’s party.
Roy Smart and two other former Labour members were quizzed over claims they published or produced race hate material.
Last year it was reported Smart shared a Facebook post asking people to “question the Holocaust”.
Smart, 50, was selected to stand in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, for last year’s local elections but was axed as a candidate following anti-Semitism allegations. At his home yesterday his partner said they had “nothing to say”.
Patricia Sheerin, 72, from Wandsworth, South London, and a Birmingham man in his 50s were also arrested. All three have been released as investigations continue.
It is understood they have been disciplined by Labour and are no longer members.
It is not known exactly what they are alleged to have done. But allegations were detailed in an 80-page secret dossier of claims leaked before being handed to Met Police chief Cressida Dick during a live interview on LBC radio in September.
SOCIAL MEDIA POST BRANDED JEWS ‘A CANCER ON US ALL’
It included allegations that some members shared a post on social media stating: “We shall rid the Jews who are a cancer on us all.”
Gideon Falter, head of the Campaign Against anti-Semitism, handed the dossier over. Yesterday he called on cops to seize more material. He said: “Officers must demand the Labour Party hands over further dossiers we know of and seize them if it refuses, so police can investigate whether Labour’s decision to keep evidence of crimes and admissions of guilt secret results in criminal liability for those responsible within the party.”
Labour has been widely criticised over its response to such claims.
A spokesman said: “We welcome the police investigating these individuals’ alleged crimes. Anti- Semitism has no place in our society and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it.”
PA:Press Association
