Lord Ahmed
Lord Ahmed

A Labour peer has been suspended for allegedly blaming Jews for his time behind bars.

Labour, whose leader Ed Miliband is part-Jewish, suspended Lord Ahmed for reportedly telling an audience that his prison sentence in 2009 for a motoring offence was orchestrated by Jews "who own newspapers and TV channels".

Ahmed reportedly made the comments in Pakistan during an Urdu-language broadcast, claimed the Sunday Times.

It reported that he claimed that the judge who jailed him for dangerous driving was a friend of former prime minister Tony Blair and that pressure had been applied to deliver stern punishment by Jews.

Ahmed allegedly said that his involvement in activism over Gaza was the motive against him.

"My case became more critical because I went to Gaza to support Palestinians. My Jewish friends who own newspapers and TV channels opposed this," he reportedly said.

Ahmed was jailed for sending and receiving text messages in the minutes before he was involved in a fatal car crash.

A Labour spokesman said steps were being taken to "clarify these remarks as soon as possible".

"The Labour Party deplores and does not tolerate any form of anti-Semitism."

Ahmed said he did not recollect making the comments attributed to him by the Sunday Times.

"I've done a lot of interviews," he said. "If you're saying that you have seen this footage then it may be so but I need to see the footage and I need to consult my solicitors before I make any comments in relation to this."

In 2012, he was suspended from the party for three months for allegedly offering a £10m bounty for the capture of United States president Barack Obama - a claim that he denied. The suspension was revoked after it emerged that he was misquoted: he was actually calling for the capture of Tony Blair and former US president George W Bush on war crime charges relating to the Iraq War.

Ahmed told an audience in Pakistan: "Even if I have to beg I am willing to raise and offer £10m so that George W Bush and Tony Blair can be brought to the International Court of Justice on war crimes charges."

In 2008, Ahmed, who was raised in Rotherham, denied claims that he was poised to defect to the Conservative party.

Barack Obama Pakistan Iraq