Jeremy Corbyn has given Labour MPs the green-light to avoid voting in support of banning on the Iran-backed terror group Hezbollah, whom he infamously once referred to as "friends".

In a move that immediately infuriated many party MPs, the Labour leader issued a one-line whip for the rest of Tuesday’s business in the Commons – meaning they did not have to turn up to vote on the order proscribing Hezbollah in its entirety.

The party later issued a statement suggesting the ban was motivated by Home Secretary Sajid Javid's "leadership ambitions".

Currently, only Hezbollah’s so-called “armed wing” is banned in Britain, creating a loophole that allows people taking part in the annual Al Quds Day March in London to wave the group’s yellow flag and claim to be expressing support only for the terror group’s “political wing”.

Mr Corbyn has long faced questions about his failure to condemn terror groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas – while his closest adviser Seumas Milne has also been accused of even greater weaknesses on the same issue.

At a meeting in parliament in 2009, Mr Corbyn described Hamas and Hezbollah as his “friends,” something he said he regretted after he became Labour leader.

Mr Javid on Monday used anti-terror laws to extend the ban on the Lebanon-based Shia group’s military wing to its political arm.

A text sent to all Labour MPs at Tuesday lunchtime confirmed they would not be ordered to support Mr Javid’s ban on Hezbollah in the vote later that day.

The text read: “We are now on a one-line whip as we do not expect any divisions today.

“A reminder we are on a very heavy, running three line whip Tomorrow, (Wednesday) and Thursday.”

Labour later issued a statement, saying the Home Office had not provided "sufficient" evidence for the ban, saying Mr Javid should show it was brought about by "clear and new evidence, not by his leadership ambitions".

A spokesperson said: "The Home Office has previously ruled that there was not sufficient evidence that the political wing of Hezbollah fell foul of proscription criteria, a position confirmed by ministers in the House of Commons last year. Ministers have not yet provided any clear evidence to suggest this has changed.

"It has also rightly been the view of the Foreign Office for many years that proscribing the political wing of Hezbollah, which is part of the democratically elected Lebanese government, would make it difficult to maintain normal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, or to work with the government on humanitarian issues, including those facing Syrian refugees, in parts of the country controlled by Hezbollah. 

"Decisions on the proscription of organisations as terror groups are supposed to be made on the advice of civil servants based on clear evidence that those organisations fall foul of the proscription criteria set out in legislation.

"The Home Secretary must therefore now demonstrate that this decision was taken in an objective and impartial way, and driven by clear and new evidence, not by his leadership ambitions."

"We support the government in its decision to proscribe the groups Jamaat Nusrat al Islam Wall Muslimin and Ansaroul Islam."

Labour MP Wes Streeting condemned the party’s response, telling PoliticsHome: “I support the proscription of Hezbollah without hesitation or equivocation and plan to vote for it in keeping with Labour’s proud social democratic tradition.

"Given voters’ concerns about the instincts of the Labour leadership on security and defence this is a very poor judgement indeed.”

Last week, as he quit Labour for the new independent group of MPs, Mike Gapes warned Mr Corbyn’s foreign policy beliefs represented a threat to the UK’s national security.

The Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and Labour Friends of Israel under chair Joan Ryan all welcomed Mr Javid’s reconsideration of the UK’s position on the Lebanese-based political party and militia.

Ms Ryan said: "The government’s decision to finally proscribe Hezbollah in its entirety is a huge victory for LFI's long-running campaign against this antisemitic terror group.

"With cross-party support, our MPs have led this fight in parliament over many years.

"This change of heart by the government is the right decision and sends a clear message that there will be no hiding place in Britain for antisemites who seek Israel’s destruction.”