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The EHRC report found the Labour Party responsible for three breaches of the Equality Act, namely:

Political interference in anti-Semitism complaints
Failure to provide adequate training to those handling anti-Semitism complaints
Harassment
In a statement, it said: "The equality body's analysis points to a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it."

The investigation found evidence of 23 instances of "inappropriate involvement" by Mr Corbyn's office, included staff influencing decisions on suspensions or whether to investigate a claim.

Some decisions, said the watchdog, were made because of "likely press interest rather than any formal criteria", and the party "adopted a practice of political interference".

The EHRC said the party's complaints process was inconsistent and lacking in transparency", with the email inbox "largely left unmonitored for a number of years" and "no action taken on the majority of complaints forwarded to it".

The watchdog said there had been recent improvements to the procedures, but the system was still "under-resourced and those responsible for it are not trained to the necessary standard".

The report also said the party was responsible for two cases of unlawful harassment, where anti-Semitic tropes were used and complaints were branded fake or smears.

It named former Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, and a local councillor, Pam Bromley, but said these were "only the tip of the iceberg", and a further 18 borderline cases were found.

Mr Livingstone later released a statement, he was "deeply hurt" by the accusations and "fully rejects" them, calling himself a "life-long anti-racist".