Denying the Holocaust should be a criminal offence according to almost two-thirds of British Jews.

Asked for an exclusive JC poll whether they felt Shoah denial should be banned and made illegal in Britain, 64 per cent said yes.

It is not currently illegal in this country to deny that the Nazi genocide of Jews took place, but countries including Germany and Israel do impose a ban.

Older Jews were slightly more strongly in favour of a ban, with 65 per cent of over-55s agreeing that denial should be illegal compared to 56 per cent of 18-34-year-olds.

After taking on the presidency of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation last month, Tony Blair argued that Shoah denial should be against the law in Britain.

The poll was carried out for the JC by Survation, which questioned a representative sample of more than 1,000 British Jews.