The bombshell move will go down in history after Jeremy Corbyn – leader until just months ago – accused “opponents” of exaggerating anti-Semitism on the same day Labour was found to have breached equality law

Jeremy Corbyn was today suspended from the Labour Party after he claimed the scale of anti-Semitism was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”.

The bombshell move was announced against Keir Starmer’s predecessor hours after he accused “opponents and the media” of exaggerating anti-Jewish racism.

It came as a watchdog report found Mr Corbyn’s office unlawfully interfered in anti-Semitism complaints – including one against the leader himself.

Sir Keir vowed to implement the EHRC recommendations in full and branded it a “day of shame” for Labour – but Mr Corbyn dismissed some of its findings and said the scale of the problem was “exaggerated”.

In a landmark moment, it means the man who led the Labour Party for four and a half years until this spring has had the whip removed pending investigation. If the ex-leader is found to have broken party rules he could be disciplined or even expelled.

A Labour spokesman said: “In light of his comments made today and his failure to retract them subsequently, the Labour Party has suspended Jeremy Corbyn pending investigation.