A British lawmaker came under fire for suggesting the country’s Jewish ambassador to Israel is biased because of his religion.

Paul Flynn, a Labor parliamentarian, claimed that Britain’s ambassador to Israel, Matthew Gould, “was serving the interests of the Israeli government,” the Associated Press reported.

“I do not normally fall for conspiracy theories, but the ambassador has proclaimed himself to be a Zionist,” said Flynn, who has served in the House of Commons since 1987.

Flynn told the Jewish Chronicle that the ambassador to Israel should be “someone with roots in the U.K. [who] can’t be accused of having Jewish loyalty.”

His comments were widely condemned by British officials, including the Foreign Office and parliamentarians from across the political spectrum, the Jewish Chronicle reported. Flynn denied the comments were anti-Semitic. — jta