Labour's Jon Ashworth apologises for the party's handling of anti-Semitism
Jon Ashworth told Good Morning Britain: "I feel a tremendous sense of sorrow and I want to say sorry for the hurt and upset that the Jewish community are feeling because the Labour Party have been too slow in dealing with instances of anti-Semitism when we found it in our ranks."
His comments follow strong criticism of Jeremy Corbyn, who has refused to apologise to the Jewish community after the Chief Rabbi warned his failure to tackle the issue made him unfit to be prime minister.
Watch the full interview above.
In a BBC interview with veteran journalist Andrew Neil, the Labour leader said he does not tolerate anti-Semitism “in any form whatsoever” and called it “vile and wrong” – but he declined four times to apologise to the Jewish community.
This morning, Joh Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health told Piers and Susanna that Jeremy Corbyn has apologised in the past to the Jewish community but said it was "obvious that the Jewish community feels aggrieved, rightly so, upset, understandably so, and we in the Labour Party need to work harder to gain their trust."
Mr Ashworth said the Labour Party needs to work harder to gain the trust of the Jewish community
Andrew Pierce and Kevin Maguire give their thoughts on Corbyn's interview with Andrew Neil and whether Boris Johnson will confirm a showdown with the veteran BBC broadcaster. Watch below.
