Jeremy Corbyn last night faced demands from Labour MPs to set out exactly when he held discussions with Shami Chakrabarti about her controversial appointment as a Labour peer amid claims he has created a "safe space" for anti-Semitism.

MPs raised concerns about the leader's response to a damning Home Affairs select committee report stating Labour has a problem with Anti-Semitism, accusing him of "pouring petrol on an already difficult situation" after he issued a statement claiming the authors had a "disproportionate" focus on Labour.

At a meeting of the parliamentary party last night Wes Streeting demanded Mr Corbyn explain when Baroness Chakrabarti was offered a peerage and put an end to allegations that she accepted the honour as part of an agreement to write a report into anti-Semitic abuse for the party.

Chuka Umunna and David Winnick, both members of the committee, also spoke out against Mr Corbyn's response to their report in which he appeared to accuse the committee of a politically motivated attack on him.

Baroness Chakrabarti has denied any "transactional" element to the report but critics have claimed she was offered a peerage before he document was published, following her decision to join Labour.