Tory leadership candidate Jeremy Hunt has been accused of “implying Corbyn is the next Hitler” after linking a visit to Auschwitz to fears about rising antisemitism under the Labour leader.

The foreign secretary told the Jewish News how, when he visited the notorious Nazi death camp, he had “rather complacently said to myself ‘thank goodness we don’t have to worry about that kind of thing happening in the UK’.

“Now I find myself faced with the leader of the Labour Party who has opened the door to antisemitism in a way that is truly frightening.”

Momentum, the pro-Corbyn campaign group within Labour, called the former health secretary’s comments “outrageous” and shared a petition calling on Mr Hunt to “apologise for linking Jeremy Corbyn to the Holocaust.”

The petition, which has been signed by more than 15,000 people, accused Mr Hunt of “weaponising antisemitism in the most vile way possible by linking Jeremy Corbyn, a life long anti-racist who has publicly condemned antisemitism on numerous occasions, with Hitler and the atrocities that Jewish people endured and suffered during the Holocaust.”

“By implying Corbyn is the next Hitler, he is deliberately and cynically fanning the flames of fear about a Corbyn led Labour government amongst Jewish people to enhance his chances of winning a General Election,” it added.

When asked to comment, Holocaust Educational Trust Chief Executive Karen Pollock said politicians "should choose their words carefully" but added: "The facts are that records show antisemitism is on the rise year on year.

"We are faced with a regular deluge of antisemitism coming from those who claim to be the 'anti-racist' left; and Jew hatred is allowed to thrive - enabled and empowered by the institutional antisemitism which seems to run through the core of the Labour Party.

“The antisemitism that has flourished under Mr Corbyn's leadership is undeniable, pervasive and horrifying."

Mr Corbyn has been criticised from prominent Jewish communal organisations over links to terrorist groups with genocidal attitudes towards Jewish people, as well as friendships and associations with antisemites and Holocaust deniers.

Labour has been gripped by an antisemitism crisis in the years since Mr Corbyn became leader in 2015. Its failure to address it is now the subject of a formal investigation by equalities watchdog the EHRC.