A few years ago Labour MP Paul Flynn was hauled in by the whips amid an anti-Semitism row when he accused Britain’s first Jewish ambassador to Israel of having “divided loyalties”. Flynn has offered his thoughts on the current crisis in a letter to a Labour-voting Jewish constituent which has been passed to Guido:

Dear xxxxxx

Sorry to trouble you but I hear from one of our canvassers that you were concerned about anti-Semitism in the Labour Party. We hear these accusations made in parliament along with many other nasty smear stories… The accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party are among the wildest and least accurate of insults… Having been in the Labour Party since childhood I have never met an anti-Semite in the party… A number of journalists have seized on some comments made probably by pro-Palestine students and distorted and exaggerated them… There are many accusations that may be made against political parties. This one is wholly untrue.

Best wishes,

Paul Flynn

That’s another vote lost on Thursday…