Gaza war comments, ghosts of past anti-Semitism rows haunt UK’s Labour Party

Voters in the northern English town of Rochdale go to the polls Thursday in a by-election that has roiled the Labour party with a new anti-Semitism controversy. Britain’s main opposition party was the clear favourite until its candidate was disowned for espousing conspiracy theories about Israel. The row recalls the party’s anti-Semitism crisis under its previous leader, Jeremy Corbyn, and comes as current party leader Keir Starmer is at pains to show that Labour has changed.