Former Government Minister and Bury South MP Ivan Lewis has resigned from the Labour Party over Jeremy Corbyn’s failure to tackle anti-Semitism in the party, saying he “could no longer reconcile my Jewish identity and current Labour politics”. Lewis has been suspended from the Labour Party for twelve months over harassment allegations but accuses the party of a “politically motivated delay” to his investigation, claiming that the party had never interviewed him over the complaints and chosen not to move forward with his disciplinary process “for political reasons”.

Lewis accuses the Labour leader of sacking him “by text message after I had asked to meet with you to discuss anti semitism” and is severely critical of both Corbyn and Seumas Milne:

“It is for others to determine whether you are anti semitic, but what is absolutely clear is that you and Seumas Milne do not believe in the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in their own state. This is different to your view on the right to self-determination for every other minority community… To compound this, all too often you have been unwilling to condemn those whose hatred of Israel becomes Jew hatred…

“Your long standing preferences are for the values of Putin’s Russia and the Islamist fundamentalism of Iran. It is no wonder that so many British people are uncomfortable at the prospect of you becoming Prime Minister…”

Read the damning letter in full below: