Ex-Labour Cabinet member Clare Short has sparked anger by saying “anyone who is sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians is called antisemitic” as she dismissed allegations the party has a problem with Jew-hate.

The veteran left-winger, who quit Tony Blair’s cabinet as International Development Secretary and later sat as an independent MP, was speaking on BBC Newsnight on Tuesday after the Equality and Human Rights Commission announced a formal inquiry into Labour antisemitism.

Asked about the number of allegations of antisemitism in Labour, Ms Short said: “What’s happened is there has been a widening of the definition of antisemitism to include criticism of Israel.

“Then anyone who is sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians is called antisemitic.”

Ms Short said there was “not a lot of antisemitism” in the party and claimed supporters of the Palestinians were being “picked on”.

She attacked the IHRA definition of antisemitism, which sets out how attacking Israel can sometimes be antisemitic, saying to “prevent people having any sympathy for the suffering of the Palestinians is a misuse of that allegation.”

Board President Marie van der Zyl said: “Clare Short’s staggeringly ignorant comments amply illustrate why the EHRC feels the need to open a full investigation into anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party.

"This denial of antisemitism can only have been a helpful cover for racists within her party. To beat anti-Jewish prejudice, the problem needs to be confronted, not denied.”

But when Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, remonstrated that this was not the case, Ms Short insisted: “It is what’s happening.”

Her remarks were denounced as “disgraceful” by Jewish Leadership Council chairman Jonathan Goldstein, who wrote on Twitter that  Ms Short had “no empathy or understanding of the issue.”

ITV broadcaster Robert Peston tweeted that if Ms Short’s remarks were “an officially authorised defence, or reflect Labour’s official position, a historic and important party is in serious trouble: there is, and always has been, a distinction between criticism of Israel and anti-Jewish hate.”

The party was also facing criticism over the speed of its expulsion of Mr Blair’s former media spokesman Alastair Campbell for voting Lib Dem in the European Parliament elections compared with the time it was taken over handling antisemitism complaints.

MP Owen Smith, who challenged Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership of the party three years ago, criticised “double standards”.

Interviewed also on Newsnight, he said: “I think we have been incredibly slow to expel some people who prima facie look to me and to many others to be plain and simple antisemites.”

Board of Deputies Marie van der Zyl said: “Clare Short’s staggeringly ignorant comments amply illustrate why the EHRC feels the need to open a full investigation into anti-Jewish racism in the Labour Party.

"This denial of antisemitism can only have been a helpful cover for racists within her party. To beat anti-Jewish prejudice, the problem needs to be confronted, not denied.”