Antisemitism inquiry is 'the Labour party looking at itself in the mirror', says chair Shami Chakrabarti

Recognising that she could be accused of political bias, she said her reasons for joining the party were two-fold.

“I do share the values that we uphold in the Labour party,” she explained, adding: “If I was going to consult within the party, and I was perhaps going say some difficult things to some members of the party, I didn’t want any suggestion that I was somehow a closet member of another political party, or out to make trouble.”

Ms Chakrabarti, who grew up in north London, continued: “[Labour members] need to know that this is in their own party’s best interests and they need to embrace it in the spirit in which it is being conducted.”

She will conduct the inquiry with vice-chairs Labour peer Baroness Royall and Professor David Feldman, director of the Pears Institute for the Study of Antisemitism. Questions have been raised over Prof Feldman’s involvement , after it was revealed that he was a signatory to Independent Jewish Voices, a group of Jewish academics who are critical of British Jewish communal bodies.

During the radio interview, Ms Chakrabarti explained that she had a “broad remit” to conduct the investigation.

She said: “There is a lot of room there to do whatever I think is constructive and necessary to ensure that everyone feels at home in this progressive party that puts equality and inclusion at the heart of its values.”