Two Green Party candidates arrested over antisemitic posts

Two Green Party candidates standing for local council seats in Lambeth, south London, were arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of stirring up racial hatred through online posts containing antisemitic material.

The Metropolitan Police detained the women, aged 57 and 54, following an investigation prompted by concerns reported on April 21 about content shared on social media. They remain in custody as officers examine the material under section 19 of the Public Order Act 1986, which prohibits stirring up racial hatred. Police have not officially named the suspects, but they are understood to be Saiqa Ali, nominated for the Streatham St Leonard's ward, and Sabine Mairey, standing in Clapham Town.

Screenshots of the posts circulated online show Ali sharing an image of an armed man wearing a headband associated with Hamas, the banned Islamist group, alongside the phrase "Resistance is freedom." Other alleged content from her accounts included a cartoon depicting a child questioning U.S. politicians' stance on Gaza with a reference to Epstein files, claims that England has a government "overrepresented with Zionist Jews," and descriptions of Prime Minister Keir Starmer as a "Jewish...