Jeremy Corbyn has finally apologised for his decision to question the removal of an anti-Semitic mural and described it as " the socialism of fools".

Writing to Jewish leaders, Mr Corbyn promised to be a "militant opponent of anti-Semitism" as he admitted that hostility to Jews had "surfaced" during his leadership of the Labour Party.

In the letter, Mr Corbyn apologised for the “pain and hurt to Jewish members of our Party and to the wider Jewish community in Britain”, adding that Labour would have a zero-tolerance approach moving forward.

"While the forms of anti-Semitism expressed on the far Right of politics are easily detectable, such as Holocaust denial, there needs to be a deeper understanding of what constitutes antisemitism in the labour movement," he added.

"Sometimes this evil takes familiar forms – the east London mural which has caused such understandable controversy is an example. The idea of Jewish bankers and capitalists exploiting the workers of the world is an old anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

"This was long ago, and rightly, described as “the socialism of fools.” I am sorry for not having studied the content of the mural more closely before wrongly questioning its removal in 2012."

Mr Corbyn added that he would now be implementing the full recommendations of the Chakrabarti report, which includes educating Labour Party members on what constitutes anti-Semitism.