The grassroots Labour meeting at centre of party turmoil

Azhar Ali is believed to have made offensive remarks about Israel at a meeting soon after 7 October. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

After the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, local Labour party meetings became the source of major headaches for the party leadership.

While they were spaces for people to share their difficulties navigating rising levels of Islamophobic and antisemitic abuse, it was also where people expressed frustration at Keir Starmer’s handling of Labour’s position on the Israel-Gaza conflict.