A councillor has been accused of “intimidating” thousands of colleagues after threatening to name anyone who opposed a ceasefire in Gaza.

Independent Cllr James Giles sent the “abhorrent” message to all 19,102 councillors in England and Wales on Sunday.

He was asking people to sign a public letter he had already penned alongside Conservative Cllr Jamal Chohan.

In his email, Cllr Giles said he would be publishing a list of all the people for the sake of “accountability”.

He suggested anyone who “feared retribution from their parties” could remain anonymous.

Cllr Giles added: “We will also be publishing the names of those who have been invited to sign but choose not to, in the interest of accountability.”

He was confronted by a wave of angry responses by councillors as tensions continue to run high.

Cllr Chohan, who co-wrote the original ceasefire letter, claimed he had nothing to do with the email later sent by Cllr Giles.

In the joint-letter, the two Kingston councillors wrote: “To be clear and stating the obvious, antisemitism is wholly unacceptable.

“However, this term cannot continue to be weaponsied to absolve Israel of any accountability in how it has contributed to the ongoing tensions and its failure to comply with international law.”

The Local Government Association said the threat to compile a list of councillors “went against everything it stood for” as it launched an investigation.

Appearing on GB News yesterday, Cllr Giles said: “My endeavour, together with Conservative Cllr Jamal Chohan who co-wrote the letter, is to provide, if you like, a national voice on this issue from representatives locally to national leaders, from all parties and none.”

He claimed a total of 500 councillors signed the cross-party letter.

In a statement released on Sunday night, Cllr Giles said: “There is no intention to publish names of councillors that do not respond to our email, nor is there any intention to publish the names of any individuals against their will.”

The statement added: “We would encourage any elected representatives that have been threatened to contact the police as this cannot be tolerated.

“We will continue our democratic duty to engage in debate.”

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