A Labour councillor who alleged Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer "follows commands from Israel" has been suspended from the party.

Ron Cooper, who represents the Tanhouse ward on West Lancashire Borough Council, was criticised on social media after the remark was published on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

West Lancashire Labour Group said he was now sitting as an independent after having the Labour whip removed.

Mr Cooper declined to comment.

The tweet was posted in response to a question about the former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

Posing the question, one social media user asked: "If Corbyn were to be leader of Labour again, would you still say we should unite around our leader to get the Tories out?"

To which, Mr Cooper's account responded "if Corbyn was Labour leader again then hundreds of thousands of members would rejoin the party".

The tweet added: "Keir Starmer stands for nothing but #purge of socialists and following commands from Israel."

A spokeswoman for the national Labour party, which is leading the investigation, said it took all complaints seriously.

"They are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate action is taken," she said.

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