The former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has warned Jeremy Corbyn he will be unfit to govern unless he eradicates anti-Semitism from the Labour Party.

In an outspoken speech, Lord Carey said that hatred of Jews persisted in ‘dark corners’ of Britain, including within Labour ranks and at top universities.

His comments came as the Labour leader was facing growing criticism that he has failed to tackle anti-Jewish remarks made by activists, including his brother.

Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey warned Jeremy Corbyn he will be unfit to govern unless he eradicates anti-Semitism from the Labour Party

Lord Carey, a vice-president of the Council of Christians and Jews, said recent reports of anti-Semitic language used by Labour Party members, often in the form of an attack on Israel, had been ‘shocking’.

At a synagogue in New York, he said one activist had been quoted as saying: ‘We invented Israel when saving the Jews from Hitler, who now seems to be their teacher.’

He claimed these had echoes even at Oxford University, where the co-chairman of the student Labour group, the largest in the country, resigned after the club decided to endorse Israel Apartheid Week.

Alex Chalmers claimed he was disturbed by the attitude of members, ‘whether it be members of the executive throwing around the term “Zio”, a term for Jews... with casual abandon... expressing their “solidarity” with Hamas, and explicitly defending their tactics of indiscriminately murdering civilians, or... claiming “most accusations of anti-Semitism are just the Zionist crying wolf” ’.

Lord Carey said: ‘He went on to say, “many students in the club have some kind of problem with Jews”. We should be alarmed by this trend in one of Britain’s most prestigious universities. Indeed, in a civilized country such language and attitudes shouldn’t be tolerated.’

Lord Carey said he did not want to suggest the Labour Party was ‘riddled’ with anti-Semitism, but the problems ‘are real enough’ and if Mr Corbyn does not take effective action ‘this will demonstrate that Labour is not ready to govern’.

Lord Carey said that anti-Semitism still existed in 'dark corners' of Britain including within Corbyn's Labour Party

The former Archbishop, who said anti-Semitic incidents have reached their highest levels for 30 years, also referred to a meeting at which Malia Bouattia, the National Union of Students’ Black Students Officer, ‘claimed, astonishingly, that “UK Muslims find their democratic freedoms are comprehensively stripped” ’.

He added: This will be news to the majority of Brits!’ Mr Corbyn was last week attacked by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, who said that his stance on prejudice in his party was ‘deeply disturbing’.