Yesterday Guido reported on LibDem council candidate Fezan Khalid, who accused the Board of Deputies of British Jews of orchestrating Corbyn’s suspension from Labour, and shared a detailed post claiming “Anti-semitism is a complete fraud”. Fezan is hoping to earn the votes of the people of Rochdale next month.

Khalid has since deleted the posts and seemingly vanished from social media. As for his political ambitions, a LibDem spokesperson told Guido “a complaint has been made and this is being looked into under the party’s independent complaints system.” Guido asked if that means Khalid has been suspended from the party: at the time of going to pixel, the LibDem press office hasn’t given an answer to that question. The party’s Rochdale branch aren’t picking up the phone. The deadline to withdraw a candidate passed last week (April 4), so he’ll be on the ballot next month as the “Liberal” Democrat candidate even if he’s “being looked into” by some nebulous complaints body…

UPDATE:  The LibDems tell Guido: “Fezen Khalid has apologised for these, now deleted, social media posts which he recognises were offensive and inappropriate. He has agreed to immediately undertake anti-semitism training.”

Local election season means Guido’s inbox is being inundated with cases of crackpot council candidates, and Liberal Democrat Fezan Khalid is no exception. Fezan is standing for election to Rochdale Council, and a quick look at his Facebook page is all you need to see that the Lib Dems’ due diligence process is failing. Yesterday, Fezan shared a post saying that Suella Braverman’s Buddhist, Indian Christian, Hindu and Jewish background provided for a “cocktail of hatred”. He accused the Board of Deputies of British Jews of orchestrating Corbyn’s suspension from Labour and shared a detailed post outlining why “Anti-semitism is a complete fraud”. Maybe stick to planning applications…

Hat-tip: Charlie Peters