Conservative councillor quits party over Tory support for Gaza genocide and far-right swing

Cllr Jamal Chohan’s blistering resignation letter comes as Labour co-author of a letter demanding a ceasefire is smeared by right-wing pro-Israel ‘usual suspects’

Kingston upon Thames Conservative councillor Jamal Chohan has dramatically resigned from the party over the Tory government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of Palestinians in Gaza – and its continuing swing to far-right politics. Chohan was ordered to apologise for an email he did not write – but was the co-author of a letter, with a Kingston ex-Labour councillor, to Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer demanding their support for an immediate ceasefire in the slaughter of civilians in Gaza. The letter has now been signed by more than five hundred councillors from across the political spectrum.

Cllr Chohan, who will now sit as an independent, announced his resignation with a blistering letter to the Conservative council group and Conservative head office (CCHQ):

Dear Group Leader, Association Chairman and CCHQ

I have been given an ultimatum that I must apologise in a public statement for an email that I did not write, or otherwise I will be suspended from the Conservative Party. A deadline of 10am on Tuesday 21st November was set by you. Despite you acknowledging that I did not write the email in question, I was told to apologise anyway as a matter of ‘public perception’. 

Ironically, the issue that you had with this email is that it contained a perceived threat, so you responded to that by threatening me instead. The perceived threat was that the views of each councillor on a ceasefire in Gaza would be published. This was later clarified by the author as not the intention, but this is of course being overlooked by those that simply want to detract from the overarching question. I would usually say that it is not the role of local councillors to engage in foreign affairs, but when the Conservative Councillors Association is persistently encouraging motions by us in support of only one side in the conflict rather than advocating for peace, it invites dialogue and opinions that should all be respected and considered. 

I have reflected on your offer to apologise. I am writing to you in advance of this deadline to advise that I will not apologise for something that I did not do and I am not prepared to represent the Conservative Party under its current administration. Please therefore accept my resignation with immediate effect.

You have touched on technicalities about the status of my £39 per annum Party membership in a futile attempt to try and discredit me but this is clutching at straws when you have accepted my considerable donations, endorsements for candidates and notwithstanding the fact that I have actively served as elected Deputy Leader for the Party in Kingston. It simply points to disorganisation in the administration of memberships by CCHQ. Other democracies would laugh at the fact that this has even been raised as a point of contention at this stage.

The wider and more pertinent context and the motivations behind the Party’s futile attempts is that the email in question encloses an open letter advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and encouraging peace through mediation for a two-state solution. I have co-signed this letter along with 500+ other councillors from across the UK, including many Conservative councillors. Are you going to demand apologies from all of them? We have already established that I did not write the letter with the ‘threat’, so it is clearly the pro-ceasefire stance that is offending you. Why else did MP Paul Bristow get the sack?

It should be noted that the Party Chairman has since written to councillors warning them not to sign the letter as it would be ‘divisive’. This is a clear attempt to silence advocates for peace as it contradicts the Party’s position and the public should question the underlying motives for this stance. There is no sign of compassion towards the 5000 innocent children that have died in the process and the 1.6 million people that have been displaced as a result without access to basic amenities. 

Any efforts that I have made to engage on this topic within the Party have been met with total disregard. This is what has led me to engage in cross-party initiatives on this issue.  Is our Party’s objective to bring peace to the World and protect innocent civilians, or to offer unequivocal support to only one side in a long-standing conflict that both sides have undeniably contributed to over the past 75 years? 

The Conservative Party professes that it has always stood for personal liberty, democracy and rule of law. I regret that this is not the case in 2023. I have not been allowed the personal liberty to advocate for peace whilst remaining a Conservative, and neither has the general public when their democratic right to protest is undermined and dismissed as ‘hate marches’. 

The Party has adopted policies which are extending to the far right. Whether that be aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric that has since been ruled to be illegal, to suppressing freedom of speech by denouncing legitimate protests, and plans to rewrite human rights laws to persist in a deportation strategy that lacks compassion. The Party looks very much like a sinking ship which is losing its dignity in the process. Something the Party should know all about given that it leaves refugees in the same predicament. 

I cannot continue to associate with this type of politics and find that I am far too often having to apologise for representing the Conservative Party. It is not the apology that you tried to extract from me, but it is the one that the public will get. 

In this day and age of character assassinations, I can anticipate the Party machinery will make some attempts to discredit me. The reality is that I have been regularly invited by the Party to interview as a potential MP candidate. It was me who was reluctant to pursue this and for good reason. I respect the Party Whip but that should not extend to silencing advocates for peace. 

I will continue to serve the residents as an independent councillor and maintain my optimism for a World in which all faiths, cultures and races will live harmoniously side by side. That is modern Britain and that is the politics that we should be promoting in the Middle East. Instead, we are regressing under your Party’s stewardship.

Councillor Jamal Chohan

In a statement, the councillor said:

Whether it be aggressive anti-immigration rhetoric that has since been ruled to be illegal, to suppressing freedom of speech by denouncing legitimate protests and plans to rewrite human laws to persist in a deportation strategy that lacks compassion. The party looks very much like a sinking ship which is losing its dignity in the process.

I cannot continue to associate with this type of politics and find that far too often I am having to apologise for representing the Conservative party.

Meanwhile Cllr James Giles, who co-wrote and promoted the letter, has been the subject of a smear campaign by pro-Israel right-wingers, who have tried to suggest that he had stood down from his role on the Local Government Association (LGA). Cllr Giles has refuted the smears, which will be covered in a separate article.

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