Calls for Tory council candidate Gulzabeen Afsar to quit after 'Jew Miliband' Facebook post

A Conservative Party council candidate in Derby is facing growing calls to quit after she made an anti-Semitic remark about Labour leader Ed Miliband on Facebook.

Gulzabeen Afsar, 31, who describes herself as being a Derby woman "born and bred" in a YouTube interview, made the remarks in an exchange on Facebook which was later removed.

Afsar first posted: "Just can't take Mr Ed Miliband seriously!! DC has what it takes to be the future PM."

When another user retorted, "Now come on… Some respect for the future PM," Afsar replied: "Nah bro! never ever will I drop that low and support the al yahud [Arabic for Jew] lol."

A Conservative Party spokesman said: "Her comment was offensive and wrong. She has removed it and apologised."

However, Derby Labour Party said: "With antisemitism on the rise across Europe it is abhorrent and terrifying that a prospective Conservative politician would say something like this.

"Derby Conservatives should launch an immediate investigation into this incident and take the appropriate action. Derby must be free from prejudice, especially from those seeking elected office."

Recently Miliband spoke out against both antisemitism and Islamophobia in a speech in Leicester, saying: "We need to confront the scourge of antisemitism and Islamophobia head on with strong action on hate crimes.

"For the first time ever we are going to make sure that when people commit hate crimes they are clearly marked on the criminal records of those who commit them. And, tough new sentencing guidelines which ensure aggravated criminal offences based on hate crime are properly dealt with by the courts."

The remark by Afsar is thought to be the first time Miliband's religion has been referred to during the general election campaign.

Jay Stoll, of the Jewish Leadership Council, told Jewish News: "This is clearly unacceptable and the relevant authorities should investigate this matter swiftly."