Controversial Sheffield councillor under investigation by Labour

Walkley councillor Neale Gibson has previously been reprimanded by Sheffield Labour Group, had the whip removed, been removed from a licensing committee and appeared before the council's standards board following a series of complaints on different issues.

The latest investigation comes after he retweeted a comment about Israel and Palestine in which it was written "Israel".

One anonymous person who complained to the Labour Party said: "The use of inverted double commas implies a meaning broader than simply the state of Israel. It plays into a broader Jewish conspiracy and is antisemitic under the IHRA definition."

A Regional Labour Party spokesman said it took antisemitism extremely seriously. "Complaints are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken."

Coun Gibson's tweets are the latest in a long list. In April, he caused outrage when he tweeted a link to a court case about a man who was jailed for raping a 13-year-old girl.

The tweet said the man "becomes the 35th member of the latest Muslim grooming gang to be sentenced".

In response, Coun Gibson said: “Well, considering the number of innocents murdered and raped by soldiers of the British state over the years...”

In October 2018, he was reprimanded by the Labour Group after making ‘extremely insensitive’ comments on social media about the death of a teenage girl.

The council also investigated allegations he was behind a fake twitter account which abused members of the public and political opponents’ but said there was no proof.

In January 2019, Labour removed him from a licensing committee after questions were raised about his company being linked to an escort business.

A council investigation found Coun Gibson not guilty of wrongdoing, but the Labour Group stood by its decision.

In November 2019, he breached the code of conduct and had the whip removed by Labour.

No details were released but it is believed the complaints were made by a member of the public and upheld by the standards board.

Coun Gibson was unavailable for comment.

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