Jeremy Corbyn has backed calls for television shows that stereotype people on benefits to be scrapped.

The Labour leader said “poverty porn” programmes should be banished to history and accused their makers of “demonising” working-class communities.

He was speaking at a screening of a documentary, titled Dispossession, which looks at the loss of social housing in recent years and the consequences of the UK’s housing crisis.

During a Q&A session, Mr Corbyn was asked by the documentary’s maker, Paul Sng, for his views on programmes such as Channel 4’s Benefits Street, which followed the lives of several residents of James Turner Street in Birmingham.

The programme was the subject of hundreds of complaints, with many people accusing the makers of demonising deprived communities.

Raising the issue during the event with Mr Corbyn in West London, Mr Sng told the Labour leader: “If TV programmes stereotyped people with disabilities or people of colour the way they do working-class people, it wouldn’t be allowed.

“So let’s make poverty porn history. Let’s do this.”

Mr Corbyn replied: “You’re absolutely right. And the demonisation of communities makes it easier for politicians to make decisions that are damaging to those communities.

“Look at the underfunding of Grenfell, look at the way in which the Grenfell Action Group were not listened to when they should have been.”

Mr Sng suggested the Labour leader should contact Ofcom, the media regulator, to urge them to put a stop to the programmes.

The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimant’s wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks’ time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his father’s funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a week’s work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didn’t want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didn’t have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images

A Labour source confirmed that Mr Corbyn wanted to see “fewer” programmes like Benefits Street and said he continued to support activists campaigning against “poverty porn”.

His intervention comes days after a television programme sparked a fierce row about a mother who spent £2,000 on Christmas presents for her six children.

Claire Young, who receives benefit payments, appeared on ITV’s This Morning and said she had bought her children 66 presents – 11 each. Despite the fact she had been able to afford the gifts by saving £50 each week and not drinking or smoking, some viewers criticised the mother for spending her benefit money on presents for her children.

Appearing on the show, she said: “I don’t drink, I don’t go out every weekend, I don’t take drugs, I hardly buy myself anything. Everything we get is the children’s money.”

“There are parents out there who are on benefits and who go out and spend every weekend out. But I don’t, I spend every waking minute with my children.

“I don’t like being on benefits. If I could go to work right now I would do, but just because I’m on benefits does that mean your children don’t get a Christmas?”