Labour antisemitism: Corbyn rejects damning ruling that he failed to act to stop discrimination

Jeremy Corbyn has dramatically rejected a watchdog’s ruling that he failed to prevent antisemitism, insisting he tried to “root out the cancer”.

The former Labour leader blamed “an obstructive party bureaucracy” for stalling reform, saying: “My team acted to speed up, not hinder the process”.

“As Leader of the Labour Party I was always determined to eliminate all forms of racism and root out the cancer of antisemitism,” a statement said.

“One antisemite is one too many, but the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party, as well as by much of the media.”

Mr Corbyn added: “I do not accept all of its findings”, but said: “I trust its recommendations will be swiftly implemented to help move on from this period.”