Nazir Ahmed, the peer who was due to face a hearing after reportedly blaming Jewish-owned media groups for his imprisonment, resigned from the Labour Party.
Lord Ahmed was due before Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee on Wednesday to explain remarks in which he allegedly blamed news organisations for his dangerous driving sentence.
The peer, who was suspended by the party in March pending investigations, claims he does not remember making the comments and said he was “very disappointed” at his treatment.
He was jailed in 2009 after being found guilty of sending text messages before his car was involved in a fatal motorway smash.
The Times reported in March that the peer had told an Urdu-language broadcaster in Pakistan that the Jewish-owned press had engineered a harsher sentence due to his support for Palestinians.
“My case became more critical because I went to Gaza to support Palestinians. My Jewish friends who own newspapers and TV channels opposed this,” the Times reported him as saying.
Ahmed said he had made the decision to resign with a “heavy heart”.
“I do not recall when this interview was held, where this interview was held and nor the person who carried out this interview,” he added in his resignation letter.
“All I know is what has been reported in the Times. I reject the core story that emerges out of the alleged interview.”
Lord Ahmed resigns from Labour Party
