Lloyd Russell-Moyle has stepped down from the Labour frontbench over a ‘campaign by the right-wing media’ which he said led to a ‘torrent of online hate’.

Russell-Moyle did not specify the details of the abuse he had received, but his resignation comes weeks after apologising to Harry Potter author JK Rowling after accusing her of ‘using her own sexual assault as justification for discriminating’ against trans people.

He also recently apologised after an 2009 Facebook post was uncovered, where Russell-Moyle called Zionism a ‘dangerous nationalist idea’ and suggested Jewish claims to Israel are not progressive ‘by their very nature.’

In a statement on Sunday, the former minister for air quality and the natural environment said: ‘I have now deleted these posts and recognise why they were offensive.’

This afternoon the MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven told Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer of his intention to stand down and support him from the backbenches instead.

In a statement, he said: ‘It is with regret I leave the shadow ministry, but owing to a campaign by the right-wing media my position has become untenable.

‘This has unleashed a torrent of online hate and daily calls of harassment to my office, which has exposed those who work for me to abuse that would not be acceptable in any workplace.

‘It has also led to hounding and stress, from which I need a few weeks to support my team and myself to collectively recover.’

Sir Keir tanked Russell-Moyle for his work and wished him well in his plans for the coming months to focus on housing and youth services.

He is the latest ally of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to leave the shadow cabinet.

Last month, Sir Keir sacked Rebecca Long-Bailey as shadow education secretary after she shared an article containing an alleged anti-Semitic conspiracy theory.

Labour frontbenchers denied a purge was taking place against the party left after the end of Corbyn’s leadership.

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