The Labour Party has said it is investigating a councillor after the Express spotted footage of them making a Nazi Sieg Heil salute at a council meeting yesterday.
Hull City Council’s latest session was thrown into chaos after the veteran politician made a gesture, before repeatedly saying “I’m a fascist, I’m a fascist, I’m a fascist.”
The moment proved even more bizarre given no opposition member of the council had accused of being a fascist prior to the outburst.
Councillor Alan Gardiner, who represents Hull’s Ings ward, sparked outrage when telling a LibDem opponent to “shut up”.
He then made the straight-armed gesture, and spotting the shocked gasps from opposition councillors he blasted: “I’m a fascist! I’m a fascist! I’m a fascist!”
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Cllr Gardiner made the offensive gesture yesterday (Image: Hull City Council Youtube)
The moment comes just weeks after a huge row in the United States caused by appearing to do a Nazi gesture, which the tech billionaire insisted had been an accident.
However many left-wingers condemned the Trump rally moment, with Downing Street issuing an official rebuke of the Trump cabinet member, saying Sir “would not be happy” if a Cabinet Minister copied the pose.
Commenting on the incident, Hull Liberal Democrat councillor Sarita Robinson described Mr Gardiner’s move as “deeply disturbing”.
She told the Express: “Labour said they would get serious about tackling anti-semitism at every level, they need to act clearly and swiftly on this.”
“Hull is a proud and welcoming city and this action does not speak for us. As a Jewish person and minority in the city it was horrific to see this display of ambient antisemitism.”
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Keir Starmer recently slapped down Elon Musk for making the same gesture (Image: Getty)
Meanwhile a Labour Party spokesman has insisted they are now assessing the incident.
Mr Gardiner said: ““I wholeheartedly apologise for my comments made in the chamber earlier today”.
“After a heated debate I made comments in irony which upon reflection I know are highly inappropriate.”
Just last month Sir insisted he remains determined to fight the “poison” of antisemitism while on a visit to Auschwitz.
On a trip to Poland to discuss defence and security, he recalled feeling “a sickness” and “air of desolation” as he tried to make sense of “the enormity of this barbarous, planned, industrialised murder.”
However in November he was accused of allowing antisemitism in Britain to “deteriorate”, and of having “empowered” hard-left groups taking part in anti- protests.
Labour Against Antisemitism warned the PM he was allowing “an already unacceptable state of affairs to further deteriorate”.
“It is not good enough to promise that school children will learn about the Holocaust when you are allowing Jewish children to be bullied on our streets.
“Once again, you need to put actions to your words and reassure the Jewish community that contemporary antisemitism, under the guise of humanitarian anti-Zionism, will not be tolerated.
“You must once again close the door on the anti-Semitism that the previous government’s inaction and your government’s policies have welcomed back on to our streets, making Jews feel unsafe and unwelcome in the UK.”