Jeremy Corbyn has refused four times to apologise for the way he has handled antisemitism in his BBC interview with Andrew Neil.

The Labour leader was taken to task over his party’s record of handling the crisis on the same day that Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis launched an unprecedented attack on its "utterly inadequate" response.

In an article in the Times which he wrote with "the heaviest of hearts", the Chief Rabbi attacked as "mendacious fiction" Mr Corbyn's claim in last week's televised general election debate that Labour had "investigated every single case" of anti-Jewish racism.

When questioned on BBC One by Mr Neil on Tuesday, Mr Corbyn rejected the claims by the Chief Rabbi.

He said: “He’s not right. Because he would have to produce the evidence to say that’s mendacious.”

When asked by Mr Neil whether he would “take this opportunity tonight to apologise to the British Jewish community for what’s happened?”

Mr Corbyn did not say sorry.

He replied: “What I’ll say is this. I am determined that our society will be safe for people of all faiths. I don’t want anyone to be feeling insecure in our society and our government will protect every community against the abuse they receive on the streets, on the trains or any other form of life.”

The Labour leader also struggled to answer whether it was antisemitic “to say Rothschilds Zionists run Israel and world governments”.

Mr Corbyn replied: “The Chakrabarti Report asked that people did not use comparisons about conspiracies.”

When pushed to say if he believed the statement to be antisemitic, he said it was “the belief of Shami [Chakrabarti], and I support her on this in that report".

He said it could be “constructed as being an antisemitic statement” before Mr Neil said “it should not be used and it is.”

The Labour leader argued that the party has “developed a much stronger process” in the last six months and the party had sanctioned and removed members who have been antisemitic.

He made the response after Mr Neil asked whether it was expectable for a Labour member to question “whether six million Jews died in the Holocaust.”

 Mr Corbyn replied: “It’s completely unacceptable and should not be happening.”

However, the question related to the case of Lesley Perrin, a Labour member, who posted a video denying the Holocaust and was given a written warning.

“No expulsion, no zero tolerance, just a written warning,” Mr Neil said.

Mr Corbyn rejected Mr Neil’s claim that antisemitism has risen in the party since he became leader.

“It didn’t rise after I became leader,” he said. “Antisemitism is there in society, there are a very, very small number of people in the Labour Party that have been sanctioned as a result about their antisemitic behaviour.

“We will not allow antisemitism in any form in our society because it is poisonous and divisive, just as much as Islamophobia or far-right racism is.”

Meanwhile Labour peer Lord Falconer, whom Mr Corbyn previously asked to carry out an inquiry into the handling of antisemitism, said the Chief Rabbi’s attack on Labour was “deserved”.

The former Lord Chancellor said there had been a “failure of leadership” by the party.

He said there were “hundreds, maybe thousands” more cases of antisemitism in the party that should be investigated.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World At One Lord Falconer, who previously served in Mr Corbyn’s shadow cabinet, insisted that Labour was still not dealing with antisemitism “properly”.

“We deserved an attack that strong,” he said . “We need to deal with antisemitism properly. We are not dealing with the cases within the party – still not.”

He said he hoped Rabbi Mirvis' “absolutely extraordinary but justified intervention will be listened to by my party”.

The chief rabbi said that the overwhelming majority of British Jews were “gripped by anxiety” of the prospect of a Labour Government ahead of the general election on December 12.