‘Smear’ row hits Labour: Councillor accuses party staff of putting false racism claims on his official file

A London councillor has claimed Labour staff placed “false” racism allegations on his official party file in a bid to smear him – and says he fears it is being done to others.

Tanweer Khan, who has represented the Mayfield ward in Redbridge since 2022, was briefly suspended from the Labour Party following accusations he had made anti-Semitic posts attacking “Jewish-owned” social media businesses.

He was later readmitted to the party but only after the allegation meant he was rejected from standing as an MP.

In an intervention ahead of the local elections on May 7, Mr Khan warned there were “rogue individuals” in Labour who “need to be removed or they will destroy the party”.

Mr Khan said he has been accused of being both antisemitic and anti-Palestinian, which has had a devastating impact on his career and family life.

He accused some in the Labour Party of using false allegations to “take down” those they don’t agree with, adding that he was particularly worried about false complaints amid the “rise in antisemitism” in Britain.

Mr Khan said: “I abhor racism in all its forms – without exception and without hesitation.

“There is no place for hatred in our society, whether it is directed at Jewish, Muslim, or any other community. I have been particularly troubled by the rise in antisemitism in recent times.

“That is why I have consistently spoken out – whether it was urging Havering Council to reinstate the Menorah so Jewish residents could celebrate their faith openly, standing in solidarity after the Manchester synagogue attack, or supporting our Jewish brothers and sisters following the recent attacks in North London.”

Mr Khan said that in 2022 he discovered a malicious website that contained reports and a letter that stated he had been reprimanded by his party for posting antisemitic content on social media three years previously.

He said “none of this was true” and he assumed it was just a “fake letter on a fake website”.

However, in 2023 he went to a selection interview to be the parliamentary candidate for Pendle and Clitheroe, the north west constituency he grew up in, where he was questioned about the reports.

“The allegation said I’d been charged with posting antisemitic content on social media and had received a warning from the Labour Party,” he told the Newspaper.

“Neither of those things was true, and I had received no such communication from the party.

“At the time, I believed it to be a fabricated document published on an unverified website.

“However, a year later, when I went to my selection interview online for the Pendle and Clitheroe constituency, it became clear that this letter had been circulating in the Labour Party offices, and it ended up with the selection committee.”

He added: “I investigated that with Labour headquarters and they told me that this was a letter that was written and left on my file by a Labour Party staff member, and that’s what worries me most, because then it means there could be other people in similar situations who don’t actually know what is on their files.”

Mr Khan, who has been a Labour member since 2000, was cleared of the allegations and is standing again for the party in Redbridge at the local elections on Thursday.

Claims of antisemitism made against Mr Khan appeared in national newspapers in 2024 when he was briefly suspended.

The investment banker and tech entrepreneur said he was “devasted” not to be able to run for the Pendle and Clitheroe constituency.

“I was hoping to stand in my childhood home,” he said.

“For me, having worked hard all my life, it was an opportunity to give back to the community where I started from.”

The allegations had an impact on not just his political aspirations but his career outside of politics. There was little support from his party, Mr Khan said.

“In early 2024, after many months of discussions, I was being considered for a very senior role – global treasurer at a major global asset management firm,” he said.

“This was a serious opportunity that had developed over time.

“However, shortly after the articles appeared containing false allegations of antisemitism against me, I was informed that the role had suddenly been filled. The timing was stark, and the opportunity disappeared overnight.

“What I also found particularly difficult was the lack of meaningful support, even after the allegations were shown to be false.

“I raised the issue widely within the party, including with senior figures and members of the National Executive Committee… but I was unable to secure the support needed to properly address what had happened.

“That sense of being left to deal with the consequences alone was challenging, particularly given the seriousness of the allegations and the impact they had on my career and my family.”

He added: “The other part of it is the impact in the community, both to myself and to my family, because they’re being targeted. They’ve been told that your husband or your father is racist and an antisemite, none of which is true, so it does have a huge impact.”

Mr Khan, has campaigned for Health Secretary Wes Streeting in his Ilford North constituency and is an ally of Ilford South MP Jas Athwal, who replaced Sam Tarry when he was deselected by local party members ahead of the 2024 general election.

He believes he was caught up in party infighting between the right and left of his party.

Last year he was embroiled in another investigation when Noor Jahan Begum, a pro-Gaza independent councillor in Redbridge, was accused of distributing misleading leaflets that claimed Mr Khan was pro-Zionism and anti-Palestine. He was also accused of misogynistic behaviour.

Ms Begum denied all the accusations.

However, in November she was found to have breached Redbridge Council’s code of conduct.

The independent investigation found that she had made unsupported claims and recommended she be removed from all committees for six months and attend training arranged by council monitoring officer.

Despite the abuse he has faced, Mr Khan said he is still standing for Labour in the upcoming local elections because “if I give up now, it means that the people who tried to smear me have actually taken me down and won”.

“At times, internal party dynamics can become highly adversarial, and serious allegations – including antisemitism – can be used in ways that are deeply damaging,” he added.

“In my case, those claims were completely untrue, yet they had very real consequences.

“More recently, I have even seen the narrative shift in the opposite direction – having previously been falsely accused of antisemitism, I am now being labelled a Zionist, alongside other serious and entirely unfounded accusations. That inconsistency speaks for itself.

“But despite all of this, I still believe in what Labour stands for – giving people from working-class backgrounds the opportunity to rise, succeed, and have hope for a better future.”

The Labour Party was contacted for comment.