JEREMY CORBYN has joined criticism of Labour’s current leadership’s failure to deal with accusations of racism and misogyny exposed in the Forde report.

Martin Forde, the senior lawyer who investigated the party’s culture after a leaked report revealed senior officials working against former leader Jeremy Corbyn, spoke out last week on Labour’s failure to address his findings.

And he criticised Sir Keir Starmer again at an event organised by Compass on Monday night, saying the leader’s claim to apply a “zero-tolerance” approach to racism was irritating, according to the Guardian.

He told the online event that you cannot implement zero tolerance without vigorous policing and transparent systems in place.

Mr Forde used his speech to say that Labour must take seriously the concerns of black and Asian members.

Mr Corbyn said he was “deeply alarmed” that Labour had failed to engage with the Forde report, which confirmed much of the earlier leaked report’s allegations of factional behaviour and racist, misogynistic language deployed by senior party staff.

“The Forde Report called out the horrific sexism and racism expressed towards Diane Abbott and others among senior members of Labour Party staff who were factionally opposed to my leadership.

“Eight months on from the report’s publication, it is appalling that anti-black racism and Islamophobia are not treated seriously enough by the party.

“There should never be a hierarchy of racism. We must stand up to all forms of discrimination, which is why I called for the swift implementation of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) recommendations to improve the party’s handling [of] anti-semitism complaints.”

“Across the country, socialist members with grassroots and trade union support have been blocked from standing as Labour candidates,” the former leader warned.

Mr Corbyn had the Labour whip removed following the EHRC report’s publication for saying that the scale of anti-semitism in Labour had been exaggerated for political purposes, though the commission’s report stated explicitly that the expression of such an opinion was in no way anti-semitic. Sir Keir has since said Mr Corbyn will not be allowed to stand for Labour at the next election, though he has no formal authority to decide that.

Labour said that it made a commitment on all protected characteristics to the EHRC and to the public, which it is meeting.