Labour Party councillor suspended after breaching immigration rule.

Gloucester City councillor candidate Ismail Ali  has been suspended by the Labour Party after the company he was director of was found to be employing illegal immigrants. 

Gloucester Council Muslim Labour candidate Ismail Ali has been suspended by the Labour Party after a company he was director of was found to be employing illegal immigrants.
Ali was one of eight directors to have been disqualified for running businesses for a combined total of 47 years following a Home Office swoop.

He had been named as Labour's candidate for the Barton and Tredworth ward in the Gloucester City Council elections to be held in May. But his candidacy has now been withdrawn following the revelations.

Mr Ali, whose last known address is Conduit Street, Gloucester, was a director of Spice Bengal (Reya Ltd), Wood Street, Calne, which was found to employ illegal staff.
A Labour Party Spokesman said: "Ismail Ali has been suspended from the Labour Party, and all support for his campaign as a candidate for the Gloucester City Council elections on May 7, 2015, has been withdrawn.

"Mr Ali did not inform the Labour Party that he had been disqualified as a company director. We took immediate action as soon as this came to light."

Mr Ali has been disqualified from being a director for six years from February 18, 2015.

The Insolvency Service said the business Mr Ali was director of employed six illegal workers and was visited by the UK Border Agency in November, 2012.

A notice by the service stated that Mr Ali provided information to the agency in January 2013 but was "unable to establish a statutory excuse by proving that appropriate checks had been conducted prior to their employment."

The Home Office stated the businesses accused of breaking immigration rules had been employing people as waiters, cooks and butchers.

The recent disqualifications bring the number of directors banned in the last nine months for immigration offences to 16 following collaboration between the Insolvency Service and Home Office Immigration Enforcement.

These 16 directors, aged 22-59, had collectively employed 52 illegal workers who were caught during intelligence-led Home Office enforcement operations.