Jeremy Corbyn
© Dan KitwoodJeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Corbyn's latest effort to draw a line under the antisemitism row that has rocked the Labour party has been overshadowed by the leftwing national executive committee member Christine Shawcroft's claim that it had been "stirred up" to attack him.

Shawcroft, who stepped down as chair of Labour's disputes panel on Wednesday after questioning the suspension of an alleged Holocaust denier, used a Facebook post on Friday to insist the issue was "being stirred up to attack Jeremy".

Her comments came to light just as Corbyn issued a conciliatory Passover message, conceding the party must "do better" in tackling antisemitism.

Shawcroft resigned after an email emerged in which she questioned the suspension of the Peterborough council candidate Alan Bull.

Bull was accused of sharing on Facebook an article headlined "International Red Cross report confirms the Holocaust of 6m Jews is a hoax", illustrated with a photograph of the gates of the Auschwitz concentration camp.

In a public Facebook post on Friday, Shawcroft said she had not seen the "appalling and abhorrent" article before emailing leftwing colleagues on Labour's ruling national executive council (NEC) to support Bull. "As soon as I saw it I told the member that he should have antisemitism training," she added.

"This whole row is being stirred up to attack Jeremy, as we all know," Shawcroft went on. "That someone who has spent his whole life fighting racism in all its forms should find himself being accused of not doing enough to counter it, absolutely beggars belief."