Police are investigating a Labour council leader following reports he posted a video containing antisemitic content on his official Facebook account, with the politician claiming artificial intelligence technology generated the material without his knowledge of offensive lyrics embedded within.
Gavin Callaghan, who leads Basildon Borough Council, issued a public apology after the clip—branded “Back Basildon Stop Reform” and displaying the Basildon Labour logo—remained visible for approximately three hours before deletion.
The video utilised Michael Jackson’s 1996 track “They Don’t Care About Us” as its soundtrack, specifically the original version containing lyrics including “Jew me, sue me” and “kick me, k*ke me” that the artist later re-recorded to remove following controversy upon release.
Those slurs appeared in bold text superimposed over photographs of Conservative councillors serving on Basildon Borough Council, alongside messaging warning that Billericay Conservatives could regain control within 35 days if Reform UK secured sufficient seats.
Andy Barnes, Basildon Conservatives leader, filed the police report after a constituent alerted him to the content. “Councillor Callaghan seems to have given no thought to the hurt and distress publicly posting these will have caused, to a Jewish community already under siege by increasing hostility and attack,” he stated.
Mr Barnes added that Jewish members of his group were “shocked that the leader of our organisation would stoop so low.”
Conservative MP Richard Holden demanded Sir Keir Starmer expel Mr Callaghan from the Labour Party, declaring: “It takes a lot to shock me and I had hoped to never see such antisemitic bile from Labour again. Sir Keir Starmer must immediately kick out this councillor or he will show that the words he spoke about rooting out anti-Jewish hatred from Labour were just for show.”
Lord Pickles, co-chair of the UK Holocaust Memorial Foundation, characterised the incident as “absolutely appalling.”
Mr Callaghan’s social media apology acknowledged using AI to create the video whilst claiming he was “completely unaware” of the antisemitic lyrics and had failed to properly review content before posting.
“Antisemitism has no place in our society and I am deeply sorry for unknowingly sharing something that carried antisemitic content,” the council leader stated. “I would never have posted it had I known, and accept that I should have been more careful in my use of AI. I will learn from this mistake and be far more cautious in the future.”
The incident raises questions about political figures’ responsibilities when deploying artificial intelligence tools for content creation, particularly regarding verification processes before publishing material on official platforms.
