Mr Rich is head of policy at the Community Security Trust, which provides security to the British Jewish community. He is the author of ‘The Left’s Jewish Problem: Jeremy Corbyn, Israel and Anti-Semitism’. The campaigner warned some Labour members feel “discriminated against or abused” because of their Jewish faith.

Speaking to Express.co.uk Mr Rich commented: “The anti-Semitism we see in the Labour Party reflects attitudes that have been around in the fringes of the British left for a long time.

“But they have come into the mainstream, come into the Labour Party, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership.

“I think that’s partly because, rightly or wrongly, there are people who think Jeremy Corbyn and his leadership reflect their views.

“Obviously a lot of these ideas, a lot of people holding these opinions, have joined the Party in the last four years.”

Mr Corbyn assumed the Labour leadership in September 2015.

Under his tenure the Labour Party has been dogged by allegations of anti-Jewish racism.

Luciana Berger, a Jewish former Labour MP, labelled the party “sickeningly institutionally racist” after resigning over the issue.

Referring to Ms Berger’s decision to quit her party Mr Rich asserted: “I think firstly we have to acknowledge the enormity of a Jewish MP leaving one of our mainstream political parties because the anti-Semitism she had received from within that party, and her own party had not supported her.

“It’s an astonishing and appalling state of affairs and it’s not something that should happen in Britain of all countries.

“So that’s one of the reasons I think why it is fair to say there is an institutional problem in the Labour Party, there is this anti-Semitic political culture, there’s no doubt that we’ve seen this playing out in the formal structures of the party.”

In February Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said he “no longer recognises” the party because of its anti-Semitism issue.

Later that month Ian Austin MP, the son of a Holocaust survivor, quit Labour over what he termed “racism” and “extremism”.

Mr Rich suggested anti-Semitism on the left is closely related to an intense hostility to Israel.

He said: “There’s no doubt that for a lot of people an obsessive hatred of Israel lies at the core of hostility they feel towards Jewish people.

“This isn’t about disagreeing with Israeli policies or criticising the actions of the Israeli government, it’s about an obsessive hatred.

“One thing that has been quite shocking in the last few years is how much anti-Semitism we see in the Labour Party is really nothing to do with Israeli policies or Israeli actions, it’s old fashioned prejudice about Jewish people.

“It’s old fashioned stereotypes about Jews being rich and powerful and conspiracy theories, the kind of stuff we used to see on the far-right and all of a sudden it’s popping up in the Labour Party.”

A Survation survey for the Jewish Chronicle published in September 2018 found 85 percent of British Jews think there are “high” to “very high” levels of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party.

By contrast the ranking for the Conservative Party was six percent.

Mr Rich spoke about the effect Labour’s problem with anti-Semitism has had on Jews involved in the Party.

He said: “A lot of Jewish party members feel that they’ve been discriminated against or abused or harassed because they’re Jewish.

“This isn’t just about a finite number of people who have bad attitudes and if you throw them out everything will be fine. It’s deeper than that.”

The Labour Party has strongly denied claims it is institutionally anti-Semitic.

Speaking late last year Mr Corbyn commented: “I say this to the Jewish community: ‘This party, this movement, will always be implacable campaigners against anti-Semitism and racism in all it’s forms.

“We are your ally. And we will work with Jewish communities to eradicate anti-Semitism from our party and wider society.”

Express.co.uk contacted the Labour Party for comment.

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