Dame Margaret Hodge says Jeremy Corbyn's Labour is 'hostile environment for Jews'

She was speaking after the party dropped its investigation into her for calling Mr Corbyn "an antisemite and a racist" to his face but continued a probe into Mr Austin for arguing with party chairman Ian Lavery over antisemitism. 

Dame Margaret, a former minister who lost family members in the Holocaust, warned that Labour was no longer the party in which Jewish voters felt most at home.

“Labour used to be seen as the natural home of Jews; now it is being seen as a hostile environment,” she said. “The issue of starting to rebuild trust with the Jewish community means they have got to approach the issue of antisemitism in a different way.”

Dame Margaret called for the party to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of antisemitism – while working with the Jewish community and others to ensure rights to be critical of Israel are preserved.

“For the Labour Party to be the organisation to tear up [the IHRA definition] just beggars belief,” she said.

Asked about her confrontation with Mr Corbyn, she said: “I stand by what I said."

Discussing Mr Austin's case, she said: “Ian acted in a very similar way to me and it is obvious that the case against him should now immediately be dropped."

The party dropped their investigation into Dame Margaret on Monday. She insisted her confrontation with Mr Corbyn was nothing more than a “heated” conversation which was normal in politics.