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Evening Standard withdraws claim Jeremy Corbyn said 'there is no antisemitism in Labour' during interview

Paper deletes interviewer Lynn Barber's claim he 'bellowed' after switching from 'from Mr Affable to Mr Angry'

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The Evening Standard has removed a claim that Jeremy Corbyn told its interviewer there was "no antisemitism in Labour" after the party denied he said this.

In the first version of the story published in the Evening Standard on Thursday, interviewer Lynn Barber wrote the Labour leader "bellowed" the claim, having lost his temper when the issue was raised.

Ms Barber wrote she then raised JC polling that about the number of British Jews could consider quitting Britain if Mr Corbyn became prime minister, to which, according to Ms Barber, he replied: "There is nothing, nothing, nothing in my life that has ever been racist or antisemitic in any way."

But Labour denied he said there was no antisemitism in the party.

The paper later deleted the quote from the online article as well as Ms Barber's description of Mr Corbyn's anger, in which she said he "suddenly turns from Mr Affable to Mr Angry" when antisemitism was mentioned, "as if someone has pressed a switch".

The statement that there is "no antisemitism" in Labour would contradict Mr Corbyn's previous position. In March 2018, Mr Corbyn conceded there were "pockets" of Jew-hate within Labour that the party needed to clamp down on.

The article was amended to say the quote had been printed "erroneously".

In the interview, Mr Corbyn also denies he "approved" of the infamous antisemitic Tower Hamlets mural whose removal he questioned in 2012.

He said: "I didn’t approve of the mural. I simply asked the question — why is this mural being removed?

"The following day, the council decided to remove it and I looked at it and said yes you’re right.’ How long had it been there? ‘Not long. A few weeks. Look. It’s been removed and I’m glad it was."

He also said "what's that got to do with me?" when Ms Barber raised how Labour candidate Dan Carden had sung "Hey Jews" to the tune of the Beatles' Hey Jude.

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