Caricature posters portray Jews as ‘Labour’s monsters’

Scotland Yard is investigating election posters in Tower Hamlets after a complaint that they stirred up racial hatred of Jews.

The posters depicted a “monstrous characterisation” of a religious Jewish man in military uniform, with the text “Labour’s monsters”.

According to a report submitted to the Metropolitan Police, this was an alleged breach of the Public Order Act, because the image was “selected to appear menacing”.

The complaint added: “The monstrous characterisation is anchored specifically in Jewish religious identity markers, not Israeli military conduct generally. This stirs up hatred against Jewish people.”

The poster was one of a series attacking Labour that appeared around Shadwell station in the east London borough before Friday’s local elections.

The police report noted that the “Labour’s monsters” poster did not “carry a printer’s imprint or the name and address of the promoter, as required by law”, making it a potential criminal offence under the Representation of the People Act.

On Friday, Mr Rahman, the Aspire leader, was re-elected as the Mayor of Tower Hamlets with almost 39 per cent of the vote.

Just over a decade ago, the Government was forced to take over key departments at the London borough of Tower Hamlets after a report accused Mr Rahman, who was also mayor at that time, of presiding over an administration that was “at best dysfunctional” and “at worst riddled with cronyism and corruption”.

A High Court judge ruled that Mr Rahman’s election in May 2014 had been secured with the help of bribery, intimidation, the casting of invalid votes and false statements about his rival.

He was banned from holding public office for five years, and then returned to the mayoralty in 2022 as the head of a new party he had set up, Aspire. On Friday, Aspire won the Tower Hamlets council election with an overall majority.

A spokesman for the Met Police said: “Police received a report of posters which displayed hate messaging on Cable Street, E1, at around 11.50am on Saturday, May 9.

“Officers are investigating the circumstances. The Met treats anti-Semitic hate crime with the utmost seriousness and is committed to taking robust action when it occurs.”