The candidate who missed out on being selected for Leicester East has railed against Labour for running a “sham contest” in the seat, selecting NEC member and friend-of-the-site Claudia Webbe. In his statement, Sundip Meghani criticised the party for allowing its “ruling Executive [to choose] a member of Labour’s ruling Executive as the candidate.

Meghani says Labour has ignored the concerns of the sizable Indian community in the seat, saying Corbyn’s party “has chosen to rub salt into the wound it has created amongst British Indians.” Read his powerful statement here…

“Worst of all, it is a slap in the face for the Indian community in Leicester and across Britain, to not only impose a non-Indian heritage candidate — in a seat with one of the highest Indian demographics in the country — but also a candidate who chaired Labour’s National Conference last year when it passed an appalling anti-India motion. It sends entirely the wrong message and is an insult to the people I come from. It shows just how little the Labour Party values and respects the Indian community, particularly Hindus and Sikhs.

Any other decent candidate would have been suitable – it didn’t necessarily have to be me. But by selecting such an inappropriate candidate for Leicester East, Labour has chosen to rub salt into the wound it has created amongst British Indians. Labour is taking the Indian vote for granted and I condemn this crooked outcome.”

This is just the latest incident in Labour’s rapidly growing India problem. Ian Lavery is quoted in the Times of India today as being contrite about the offence caused to “some sections of the Indian diaspora, and in India itself…” A lot of voters too…