A trustee of the Jewish Museum London has resigned from the board after the museum declined to play host to Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, giving a speech on anti-semitism.

Julia Hobsbawm said she was resigning in order to defend “free speech”.

In an article for The Sunday Times website, she said the museum “has to be apolitical” because it is a charity and the board should have been consulted before the decision was made.

“Either we believe in freedom of speech or we don’t,” writes Hobsbawm. “I am uneasy about those who try to shut down Jeremy Corbyn on the grounds, as some are arguing, that he has de facto forfeited his right to it. I disagree. Democracy is all or nothing.”

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