What is really going on in politics? Get our daily email briefing straight to your inbox Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Labour has defended Jeremy Corbyn's comments claiming the BBC is biased towards 'Israel's right to exist'.

The Labour leader made the comments to Iranian state TV channel Press TV in 2011, when he was a backbencher.

He claimed then-BBC Director General Mark Thompson, who is now CEO of the New York Times, was under pressure from the Israeli government.

He said: "There is pressure on the BBC from probably Mark Thompson, who seems to me to have an agenda in this respect.

"There seems to be a great deal of pressure on the BBC from the Israeli government and the Israeli embassy, and they are very assertive towards all journalists and to the BBC itself - they challenge every single thing on reporting the whole time.

"I think there is a bias towards saying that Israel is a democracy in the Middle East, that Israel has a right to exist, that Israel has its security concerns."

A Labour spokesman defended the comments.

They said: "Jeremy was arguing that despite the occupation of Palestinian territory and the lack of a Palestinian state, Israeli concerns and perspectives are more likely to appear prominently in news reporting than Palestinian ones.

​"Jeremy is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution - a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine.

"The Israeli government is well known to run an effective and highly professional media operation."

Labour MP John Mann told Politics Home: “I’m sure Jeremy will want to set the record state immediately - preferably by making a statement on the BBC.”

He added: “We should be backing the BBC. The BBC stand for everything that the Labour party and its values stand for and nobody should be going on Press TV."

Jewish Leadership Council chief executive Simon Johnson attacked the comments as being at odds with Labour's policy on Israel.

He said: "Sorry Mr Corbyn. Do you therefore think that Israel is NOT a democracy, does NOT have a right to exist and does NOT have security concerns?

"And that an organisation is biased if it DOES believe these things?

"Wow. That seems to differ somewhat from the policy of the party you lead."