Actress Miriam Margolyes has claimed Jeremy Corbyn “was forced” to stand down as Labour leader “by a conspiracy within the party motivated from Israel”.

In an interview with The Times, the 79-year-old star, who is Jewish, also insisted Mr Corbyn “was not and never was an antisemite” and that politically she has moved “sharply to the left” with age.

The Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets actress – who described her upbringing as “mainstream Jewish middle class” – also admitted her views have left her facing hostile reactions from former friends including Maureen Lipman.

But she added: “I think when they go on their holidays they have to go and see how things are for the Palestinians on the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

“Go and have a look, see how they are being treated.”

Mrs Margolyes also defended her appearance on the Channel 4 comedy show The Last Leg in May where she had said she had “difficulty not wanting Boris Johnson to die” when he contracted coronavirus.

She said: “The first half of the sentence said one thing and the last half of the sentence said completely the opposite but I was referred to as ‘worse than Hitler’.

“I was thinking aloud – I was describing my thought process.”