Corbyn likely to be recalled to face anti-Semitism committee

Jeremy Corbyn will likely be recalled to face another grilling by MPs examining his record on anti-Semitism, after concerns were raised about the answers he gave them earlier this month.

The Labour leader was questioned by the Home Affairs Select Committee on 4 July but now need to return after committee chairman Keith Vaz received two complaints from parliamentarians, including Conservative MP Tim Loughton.

Some of Corbyn’s answers were inaccurate or misleading, the complainants say, with particular queries on Corbyn’s relationship with Holocaust denier Paul Eisen.

Asked about his links to the founder of Deir Yassin Remembered, Corbyn said: “I attended some of these events… As far as I was concerned, what he was doing about Deir Yassin Remembered was reasonable, and the events were quite large, and a broad range of people came to them. He later produced these views, with which I totally and profoundly disagreed, and I let them know. I have not attended anything else since.”

Corbyn, who faces a leadership challenge from Angela Eagle and Owen Smith, is understood to have attended Deir Yassin Remembered events subsequent to Eisen’s comments on the Holocaust being revealed, and MPs will likely want to retrace the chronology.

Giving oral evidence, Corbyn also said he “regretted” once calling members of Hamas and Hezbollah “friends” and maintained that he did not see Ruth Smeeth MP leave the Chakrabarti Inquiry press conference in tears, after being accused of feeding stories to The Telegraph.