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Jeremy Corbyn is facing a defeat by his own MPs on the day Parliament returns over his refusal to adopt in full the international definition of anti-Semitism.

Amid signs that Labour’s leader was preparing to give ground to critics, senior MPs said they had the numbers to win a formal ballot of the Parliamentary Labour Party insisting on a full U-turn. The party’s civil war deepened after a vicious Twitter campaign was unleashed by Left-wingers in a bid to force out deputy leader Tom Watson for attacking the handling of the row that has completely obliterated summer campaigning on other issues.

Thousands of Twitter users responded to a #ResignWatson hashtag campaign that was co-ordinated by Left-wing groups yesterday evening.

Some said they would turn their backs in a snub to Mr Watson during his speech to party conference next month.

Luciana Berger, the MP who has been trolled by Left-wingers resorting to anti-Semitic abuse, said soundings among colleagues had revealed overwhelming support for the internationally recognised International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism, including all of its accompanying examples. “Many colleagues believe, myself included, that if the entire definition is good enough for the devolved administrations, over 130 councils, the CPS, the Met Police, Unison and many other bodies then it’s not for the Labour Party to water it down and take bits out,” she told the Standard.

“When parliament resumes in a few weeks time there will be a ballot of every Labour MP to decide whether or not to incorporate the full definition into our own PLP code of conduct. Labour MPs are grounded in their communities and reality. MPs will have had the summer to reflect on the hurt this prolonged controversy is causing.”

A vote by a show of hands in July saw the PLP oppose Mr Corbyn’s position but a formal ballot would carry more weight. Party sources hinted that a compromise might be reached before then, stressing that Labour’s National Executive Committee will meet on September 4, the day before the PLP, to discuss a consultation on the issue.

Jewish groups last night rebuffed Mr Corbyn’s latest attempt to draw a line under the row by saying sorry for the hurt it had caused in a video message.