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Call The Midwife star Miriam Margolyes has vowed to back Labour in the polls because “ Jeremy Corbyn is going to protect the NHS”.

The popular BBC midwife drama’s new Mother Superior has declared her backing for the Labour Party leader as she believes the NHS is safe in his hands.

The Jewish actress, 78, said: “I know Jeremy Corbyn personally and I know he’s not an anti-semite.

"He’s a man of principle. Johnson has shown again and again that he is not.

"I would do anything to keep Boris Johnson out. I don’t want the England that Johnson wants.”

“Anti-semitism is throughout the English political system,” explained the former Harry Potter star.

(Image: BBC)

“I don’t think Labour has a monopoly on it – the Tory party need to look into it too, and as they have acknowledged, into Islamaphobia.”

Speaking at the preview of the hit BBC show’s new series nine and Christmas special, the latest addition to the cast joined the show’s creator Heidi Thomas in calling for the NHS to be saved.

She said, “Maybe I’m not as doctrinaire as Corbyn, but he is going to protect the NHS and that is the one thing I hold more important than any other thing – more than Brexit , more than anti-Semitism.”

Call The Midwife writer Heidi Thomas also revealed her deep gratitude to NHS staff for nursing her dying mother, saying the kindness of NHS staff despite the brutal cuts were the inspiration behind the latest series.

“The hospital was falling apart and chains of communication were terrible,” she revealed.

“But at every turn we met with highly skilled nurses, paramedics and support staff… people I never want to forget. People who were underpaid and undervalued, but who never under-delivered.

“No matter how much the bureaucrats crunch the numbers and gnash their teeth and say the NHS has become financially unviable, you cannot put a price on compassion.”