The Labour MP David Lammy joins members of the Jewish community in a protest

Thomas Gardiner, a Jeremy Corbyn ally, was the Labour official who directed that a party member responsible for posting an antisemitic image from a far-right website should not face immediate suspension, The Times can reveal.

Mr Gardiner, Labour’s director of governance and legal, judged that the image was “anti-Israel, not anti-Jewish”.

The Labour councillor in Camden was brought in last year after the arrival of Jennie Formby, the new general secretary.

A party official recommended last year that a Labour member who posted the antisemitic image be suspended. Mr Gardiner directed instead that the person should get a warning notice or “reminder of conduct”.

Wes Streeting, the Labour MP for Ilford North, suggested that the party should investigate Mr Gardiner’s judgments on antisemitism. “Anyone