Corbyn 'irresponsible' for attending left wing Jewish event

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has been criticised for attending an event organised by a left wing group critical of mainstream Jewish organisations.

It comes hours after Mr Corbyn promised "watertight" investigations into claims of anti-Semitism within his party.

Photographs on the Guido Fawkes website appear to show Mr Corbyn meeting members of Jewdas to mark the Jewish festival of Seder.

One Labour MP called his actions "irresponsible and dangerous".

Jewdas has accused the Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Leadership Council and Jewish Labour Movement of "playing a dangerous game" and previously dismissed anti-Semitism allegations as right-wing smears.

In a tweet, Labour MP John Woodcock said meeting the group gave the message that "extreme views are OK".

Labour's Angela Smith said Mr Corbyn's attendance was a "blatant dismissal" of the case to tackle anti-Semitism in the party.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the Campaign Against Anti-Semitism, Gideon Falter, said Mr Corbyn's claims to remedy anti-Semitism within the party and his appearance at this meeting made him a "duplicitous" man.

A spokesman for the Labour leader confirmed Mr Corbyn had attended the event in a personal capacity and not on behalf of the party.

On Monday, Momentum, the Labour movement backing Mr Corbyn, said the party had "failed" on anti-Semitism and acknowledged cases had not been dealt with in a "sufficiently decisive, swift and transparent manner".

The party has been engulfed in a row about attitudes towards the Jewish community after it emerged there was a backlog of some 70 incidences of anti-Semitism within the party that had not been dealt with.

Mr Corbyn has previously apologised for the "hurt" in the failures to address complaints and insisted the party does not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form.

Labour has dropped one council candidate over allegedly sharing posts on social media urging followers to "question the Holocaust".

Analysis

By Eleanor Garnier, BBC News political correspondent

It's been a bad week for Labour.

Throughout, the party has condemned anti-Semitism and criticised those behind it - and Jeremy Corbyn has apologised for the hurt that has been caused.

This warning from Momentum, a left wing campaign group set up to support the Labour leader, is significant.

It follows claims from some of Mr Corbyn's supporters that allegations of anti-Semitism are a smear designed to damage him.

While Momentum's National Co-ordinating Group said anti-Semitism was a problem in parts of the Left, it also said that some of Mr Corbyn's opponents were opportunistically using the issue as a way to undermine his leadership - though it added that the action of others does not reduce the group's responsibility to challenge anti-Semitism.

But it will take more than words for Labour and Jeremy Corbyn to recover from the trouble the party has found itself in over anti-Semitism.

Later, the party's new general secretary will start her role to ensure allegations of anti-Semitism are dealt with effectively.

In an interview with Channel 4 News, Mr Corbyn said the issue would be a top priority for Jennie Formby and insisted "absolutely strong and watertight" investigations would take place.