Evidence of antisemitism within Labour is being mislaid or ignored by party staff, Jeremy Corbyn has admitted in a secret recording.

The Labour leader expressed misgivings about the way his own officials were handling the complaints during a meeting with Margaret Hodge, the Barking MP, in February.

An audio recording was released by the Sunday Times.

Mr Corbyn is heard speaking about his decision to appoint former cabinet minister Lord Falconer to review Labour’s complaint process.

He is heard saying: “The point of him [Falconer] is that he will look at the speed of dealing with cases, the administration of them and the collation of the evidence before it is put before appropriate panels and things.

 “Because I was concerned that evidence was either being mislaid, ignored or not used and that there had to be some better system.”

Ms Hodge, who is reported to have taped the meeting, was embroiled in a row with the Labour leader last year that resulted in the party taking disciplinary action against her, before dropping it shortly afterwards.

She wrote in this week’s Sunday Times that Mr Corbyn needed to set up an independent body to handle complaints of racism and bullying in the party.

A Labour spokesman said the leaked recording was evidence that the party was taking antisemitism allegations seriously: “This shows Jeremy Corbyn's desire to make procedures as robust and efficient as possible and to rebuild trust with the Jewish community.

“The Labour Party takes all complaints of anti-Semitism extremely seriously and we are committed to challenging and campaigning against it in all its forms.”