Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has responded to being suspended by the party.
Mr Corbyn, who led the party until December's General Election defeat, was today suspended following comments he made in response to a damning report into antisemitism in the party.
A spokesperson for current Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer said the decision to suspend Mr Corbyn was made “in light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently."
The 130-page report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission, released today, said it found "significant failings in the way the Labour Party has handled antisemitism complaints over the last four years".
The report said they found "specific examples of harassment, discrimination and political interference", but also noted "a lack of leadership within the Labour Party on these issues", which it said was "hard to reconcile with its stated commitment to a zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism".
Responding to the report today, Mr Corbyn said Jewish Labour members were right to expect the party to deal with antisemitism “and I regret that it took longer to deliver that change than it should”, but added “the scale of the problem was also dramatically overstated for political reasons by our opponents inside and outside the party”.
It was following this response that the Islington MP was suspended and had the party's Parliamentary whip withdrawn.
A party spokesperson said: "In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation. He has also had the whip removed from the Parliamentary Labour Party.”
Mr Corbyn has just responded to the news on his Twitter account.
He said: "I will strongly contest the political intervention to suspend me.
"I’ve made absolutely clear those who deny there has been an antisemitism problem in the Labour Party are wrong.
"I will continue to support a zero tolerance policy towards all forms of racism."
