In a secret recording obtained by the Sunday Times, Jeremy Corbyn reportedly said that he believes that evidence of antisemitism in his party has been "mislaid or ignored".

He was alleged to have made the comments during a private meeting with Dame Margaret Hodge, who is a long time critic of Mr Corbyn, over his handling of antisemitism.

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The newspaper said that it was during a discussion about him outlining his intention to appoint former cabinet minister Lord Falconer to review Labour's complaints process.

He was quoted as saying: "The point of him (Falconer) is that he will look at the speed of dealing with cases, the administration of them, and the collation of the evidence before it is put before appropriate panels and things.


"Because I was concerned that evidence was either being mislaid, ignored or not used and that there had to be some better system."

Image: Dame Margaret Hodge is a critic of Mr Corbyn

According to the newspaper, he also revealed that he had been a target of abuse, and he reportedly said: "You see, I get a huge amount of abusive stuff, mostly, some of it's quite threatening, you know, murder and stuff."

The reports come a week after the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) passed a motion of no confidence in the Labour leader over his handling of the antisemitism row that has engulfed the party.

National secretary of the JLM, Peter Mason, said Jewish members of the party were "looking on in horror" at what has been happening in the party in recent years.

Jewish Labour members 'looking on in horror'

Despite Mr Corbyn's reported claim that the party was ignoring evidence of antisemitism, a Labour spokesperson said that the party takes allegations seriously.

They said: "This shows Jeremy Corbyn's desire to make procedures as robust and efficient as possible and to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.

"We don't comment on staffing matters. Complaints are being handled in the usual way.

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"The Labour Party takes all complaints of antisemitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.

"All complaints about antisemitism are fully investigated in line with our rules and procedures and any appropriate disciplinary action is taken.

"Jeremy Corbyn was referring to concerns about longstanding, inherited procedures and expressed his commitment to make them as robust and efficient as possible and to rebuild trust with the Jewish community - which is the right thing to do."

In response to the video, a Labour party source said: "Before Jennie Formby became general secretary, we were alarmed that at times it seemed that former compliance unit staffers were targeting Jewish activists not in breach of rules, while obstructing action on clear-cut cases of antisemitism."

It comes after Mr Corbyn was warned that millions of anti-Brexit voters would desert the party if it did not back a second referendum in its manifesto for next month's EU elections.

Richard Corbett, who leads Labour's 20 MEPs in the European parliament, told The Observer: "If Labour does not re-confirm its support for a confirmatory public vote on any Brexit deal in its manifesto then it will haemorrhage votes to parties who do have a clear message.

"If on the other hand we do offer clarity and a confirmatory ballot we could do very well."