John McDonnell has been forced to try and dispel rumours of a rift with Jeremy Corbyn, amid reports he was planning an “organised takeover” in the event of a coup by dissenting Labour MPs.

It comes after several turbulent days for the Labour leader, who has been forced to suspend three councillors, an MP and the former Labour Mayor as the row over anti-Semitism within the party’s ranks intensified.

An article printed in the Daily Telegraph on Monday said the Labour leader’s handling of the furore had led to claims Mr McDonnell is “waiting for an ‘organised takeover’ as leader if MPs stage a coup”.

An editorial in the newspaper added: “So shambolic, so offensive has Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of the Labour Party become that the shadow Chancellor John McDonnell is thought to be planning a putsch to unseat him”.

Mr McDonnell, who appeared to take aim at the newspaper, said: “Media and right-wing dirty tricks and lies trying to divide me and Jeremy. They should know it only unites us even more and makes us stronger.”

A source close to the shadow Chancellor, speaking to The Independent, dismissed the “ludicrous nonsense” printed about the pair in the press, adding that Mr McDonnell and Mr Corbyn were “best of friends”. “It is absurd to suggest otherwise,” the source added.

On Monday the Labour Party acted swiftly to suspend Ilyas Aziz, a Nottingham City councillor, and Salim Mulla, a councillor in Blackburn, over controversial social media posts highlighted on the Guido Fawkes website.

A third councillor, Shah Hussain, who represents Burnley's Daneshouse with Stoneyholme ward, made comments attacking Israel's foreign policy made on Twitter in 2014.

When approached by the Press Association, Mr Hussain said he would "most definitely" fight the suspension.

On his Facebook page Mr Aziz appeared to liken the actions of Israel against the Palestinians to those of the Nazis against the Jewish population. In a post, from 2014, Mr Mulla also shared a post allegedly showing footage of a Palestinian boy being arrested with a comment from the councillor saying: "Apartheid at its best. Zionist Jews are a disgrace to humanity."

Diane Abbott: Smear against Labour

Last week the Labour leader was forced to suspend his long-time ally Ken Livingstone, the former London Mayor, and Labour MP Naz Shah. When approached by The Independent, Mr Livingstone said he would be making no further comments before the London Mayoral election later this week.

The two high-profile suspensions led Mr Corbyn to announce that the party had set up an independent inquiry – led by the former Liberty director Shami Chakrabarti – tasked with tackling antisemitism in Labour. A code of conduct will also "make explicitly clear for the first time that Labour will not tolerate any form of racism, including anti-Semitism, in the party" and provide guidance on acceptable language.

Meanwhile, the general secretary of Unite – Labour’s biggest union donor – Len McCluskey took aim at dissenting MPs on Monday. In an interview with The Guardian the union chief said that some rebellious politicians had been “nothing short of treacherous” and set “stupid traps” for Mr Corbyn by claiming the party should win a certain number of seats at the elections later this week.

Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said Show all 14 1 /14 Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Israel and Palestine The simple fact in all of this is that Naz made these comments at a time when there was another brutal Israeli attack on the Palestinians; and there’s one stark fact that virtually no one in the British media ever reports, in almost all these conflicts the death toll is usually between 60 and 100 Palestinians killed for every Israeli. Now, any other country doing that would be accused of war crimes but it’s like we have a double standard about the policies of the Israeli government Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Antisemitism in the Labour Party As I’ve said, I’ve never heard anybody say anything antisemitism-Semitic, but there’s been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as antisemitic. I had to put up with 35 years of this Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Naz Shah It’s completely over-the-top and rude, but who am I to denounce anyone with all of that. It was wrong. I don’t think she is antisemitic, it was incredibly rude but I don’t believe she is an antisemite. When the NEC investigation is finished they'll say it was rude and over the top but they won’t find any evidence that she actually hates Jews. We’ve got to investigate all these charges and the context in which they are made. If she is antisemitic like the other three or four members we’ve found who are antisemitic, she’ll be expelled Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On other alleged antisemites in Labour That is part of the classic antisemitic thing about an ‘international Jewish conspiracy’ – that is the reason we need to have an investigation. I’ve got an open mind. I’ve seen nothing to suggest to me that she is antisemitic. I wouldn’t have supported her if I [thought] she was antisemitic Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On whether what Hitler did was legal, as stated by Naz Shah That’s a statement of fact – Hitler, I’m sure, passed all those laws that allowed him to do that … it’s history … literally, Hitler was completely mad, he killed six million Jews. She’s not saying it’s legal to kill six million Jews: what they were doing in that country allowed them not just to kill six million Jews, kill all the communists, kill all the leftists like me, my father almost died when a Nazi sub sank his boat. I have no sympathy with Hitler Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On another alleged antisemite in Labour No, that is, and that’s why she’s been suspended or expelled. What I’ve said is that in 47 years of the party in all the meetings I’ve been in I’ve never heard anyone say anything antisemitic. There are bound to be in a party of half a million people you’ll have a handful of antisemites, you’ll have a handful of racists. You’ve managed to dig out virtually every antisemitic comment that Labour members have made out of half a million people. I’ve never met any of these people. There’s not a problem. You’re talking about a handful of people in a party of half a million people. Jeremy Corbyn has moved rapidly to deal with them Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On Jeremy Corbyn’s response to the allegations He met with Naz and she agreed she would stand down while the investigation is going on. He called her in to see her. There’s been a huge investigation of virtually everything that anybody put on the internet … many of these people are quite new and recent members of the party that joined in the big influx. 300,000 new people came in Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On his meeting a man accused of antisemitism in London This is the man who called for Muslims around the world to donate blood after the attacks of 9/11 when he came to London I went with him to the Regent’s Park mosque where he said no man should hit a woman and you should not discriminate against homosexuals. So I can’t equate what I heard him say… he made no antisemitic statement while he was here in London. I don’t investigate people. I’ve simply said what I believe to be true which is that Naz was not antisemitic. She was completely over the top, very rude, but that does not make her an antisemite Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On John Mann’s comments He went completely over the top. I was actually doing a radio interview at the time that he was bellowing that I’m a racist antisemite in my ear. I’ve had that with John Mann before a few weeks ago screaming that I was a bigot down the phone. I’m not an apologist for anyone who makes antisemitic statements. What I’m saying is don’t confuse antisemitism with criticism of the Israeli government policy Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On calling a Jewish journalist a “concentration camp guard” whilst Mayor of London I can’t tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying ‘I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic’. We won the case Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On claims about Hitler and Zionism I can’t tell if a journalist is Jewish or Catholic or anything. If a journalist is chasing you down the street at nine of clock at night you might be rude to them. Some people might have hit him! He said he was just doing his job. We went all the way to the High Court and the judge opened his judgement by saying ‘I hope no one here is going to suggest that Mr Livingstone is antisemitic’. We won the case Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On John Mann I’d simply say to John Mann go back and check. Is what I say true, or is it not? The BBC, you’ve got a huge team of researchers, it will take just an hour or two to go back and confirm. I was asked a question, I answered it. I have never in 45 years since I won my first election, I have never lied. I have always answered the question Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On raising the issue if Hitler It lays you open to people smearing and lying about you. I’ve always answered the questions put to me and that simple fact is we’ve had a handful of people saying antisemitic things in the Labour Party, they’ve been suspended, some of them are on their way to being expelled, some of them have been expelled already Labour antisemitism row: What Livingstone said On people calling for him to be suspended All my usual critics – but the simple fact is I agree with them; there is no place for antisemitism in the Labour party. For them to suggest I am antisemitic is a bit bizarre considering we worked with Jewish groups and put on exhibitions about the scale of the holocaust, we worked with Jewish groups to tackling the scale of antisemitism back in the 1970s. I’ve always opposed every form of racism whether it’s against black people or Jews. I’m going to stay in the Labour party and continue to fight against all forms of racism and discrimination as I have my entire life

“We have had Michael Dugher saying Jeremy has 99 days to prove himself and suddenly 5 May becomes a litmus test on Corbyn’s ability to lead the party,” he said.

“We have had Liz Kendall saying we should win 400 council seats. This is the woman who got 4.5 per cent of the vote in the leadership election. We won’t be taking lectures off people like that who are interested in setting false traps.”

A poll carried out as the controversy unfolded gave the Conservatives an eight-point lead, and experts tip Labour to lose up to 150 council seats in England and face a hard night in elections to the Scottish and Welsh governments.