A LABOUR MP has described controversial leaflets distributed at this week’s party conference as “classic anti-Semitic trope”.

The literature, reportedly handed out in and around the Labour Party’s annual conference in Liverpool, claims the Jewish Labour Movement (JLM) “acts as a representative of Israel”.

Like many of his Labour colleagues, MP for Ilford North Wes Streeting has expressed major concern over the leaflets and the “undeniable” issue of anti-Semitism within the party.

Speaking on BBC Radio this morning (September 26), he said: “I wouldn’t want to give people the impression that the Labour Party is a hotbed of anti-Semitism, where every event you attend is full of members who have a problem with Jews – this is not the case.

“But this is a problem we have to tackle - because as a party committed to equality we should hold ourselves to higher standards.”

The chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Jews added that his newly-re-elected leader Jeremy Corbyn has failed to show “real leadership” on the issue.

He said: “Over the past year Jeremy Corbyn has not acknowledged the extent and nature of the problem.”

Several Labour MPs have also hit out at key Corbyn supporters after they claimed anti-Semitism is being used as a "political weapon of mass destruction" against the party leader.

Speaking at a nearby Momentum event in Liverpool, vice chair of the grassroots Corbyn support group Jackie Walker claimed there is “little if any” evidence that anti-Semitism is a major problem within Labour.

On the subject of Corbyn's re-election, Streeting added that known critics like himself are unlikely to be converted overnight, but he hopes MPs engage in "robust and respectful debate" following Saturday's vote.