LABOUR was plunged into fresh chaos last night as one of Keir Starmer’s MPs quit in disgrace after sneaking off to Turkish-occupied Cyprus.
Afzal Khan, 65, MP for Manchester Rusholme, was forced to resign as Britain’s trade envoy to Turkey after being caught out on the rogue trip to the breakaway state, which Britain does not even recognise.
The veteran left-winger claimed he was only there to see his nephew and collect an honorary degree. But furious critics blasted the move as a shocking lapse of judgement for a man entrusted with a key diplomatic role.
Khan, a former Lord Mayor of Manchester and MEP, insisted he paid for the jaunt out of his own pocket. But that cut little ice with Labour’s opponents, who branded the fiasco yet another embarrassment for Keir Starmer’s shaky leadership.
The north of Cyprus has been occupied by Turkish troops since 1974. UK ministers are strictly barred from official dealings with the self-declared Turkish Republic.
Dame Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, called for Mr Khan’s resignation earlier this week.
President of the National Federation of Cypriots in the UK, Christos Karaolis, said that his position “was clearly untenable following his deeply inappropriate and unacceptable visit to occupied northern Cyprus”.
Shadow foreign minister Wendy Morton said she “welcomed” Khan’s resignation but tore into Starmer, accusing him of being too weak to act.
She fumed: “This should have been dealt with immediately. Sir Keir should have sacked him on the spot.”
The row piles fresh pressure on Labour, already dogged by bitter splits and rows over discipline.
