BLACKBURN with Darwen Council has confirmed its investigation into a senior Labour councillor’s allegedly anti-Semitic Facebook post includes three party colleagues who ‘liked’ it.

Yesterday the Lancashire Telegraph revealed Cllr Andy Kay had been suspended from Labour and stood down as finance boss and deputy leader.

The council and Labour investigations relate to a 2014 Facebook post which linked to a Guardian article headlined ‘Gaza’s only power plant destroyed in Israel’s most intense airstrike yet’.

Cllr Kay commented: ‘The Jewish state has learnt nothing from the Nazis and the Jewish leaders are worse than the Nazis.’

It was ‘liked’ by future Blackburn MP Kate Hollern, who has since apologised, and Labour councillors Salim Sidat, Pat McFall and Jamie Groves.

The Jewish Chronicle yesterday published further allegedly ‘anti-Semitic’ social media posts by Cllr Kay.

Julian Arnold, chairman of Blackburn Conservative Association, said: “All four should be suspended as councillors until a thorough investigation is complete.”

Cllr Sidat said: “I and my two colleagues are in no way anti-Semitic.”

Cllr Kay has ‘vigorously’ denied being anti-Jewish.

The Labour Party nationally has only received complaints about Cllr Kay.