Did Jeremy Corbyn back artist whose mural was condemned as antisemitic?

When the artist wrote on Facebook that the mural was to be removed, Mr Corbyn responded with a message from his personal Facebook account.

Mr Corbyn wrote: “Why? You are in good company. Rockerfeller destroyed Diego Viera’s mural because it includes a picture of Lenin.”

Mr Corbyn's Facebook comment asking why the work was being removed

That was an apparent reference to the removal in 1934 of a work by left-wing Mexican artist Diego Rivera from Manhattan’s Rockefeller Centre. Rivera’s piece had been interpreted as anti-capitalist.

Mr Ockerman’s Freedom for Humanity was criticised by Lutfur Rahman, the controversial Tower Hamlets mayor at the time.

He said he was concerned the work could be interpreted as offensive to Jews because “the images of the bankers perpetuate antisemitic propaganda about conspiratorial Jewish domination of financial and political institutions”.

Mr Corbyn’s office has been asked to comment on his apparent support for Mr Ockerman.

The artwork was also commended by journalist Yvonne Ridley, who wrote on Facebook that it was “very moving and a wonderful piece of art – what’s wrong with it?”.