AN appeal to "root out growing anti-Semitism" within the ranks of the Labour party has been issued by the Greater Manchester Mayor and council leaders.

The open letter, signed by Andy Burnham and leader of Bolton Council Linda Thomas, was addressed to the Labour party general secretary Jenny Formby. A copy of the letter was also sent to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

The letter begins by expressing "deep concern about the issue of anti-Semitism in the Labour party" before acknowledging the "failure of the party to root out growing anti-Semitism" within its ranks.

It expresses regret that the Labour party's "values of equality and opportunity for all" are being questioned by the "failure of the party to act promptly and appropriately".

The Greater Manchester Labour leaders urge the party to "act swiftly to deal with this form of racism" before proceeding to criticise the leadership for failing to act sooner.

The leaders raised concerns about their party's reluctance to acknowledge the extent of the problem of anti-Semitism and expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which complaints have been handled. They urge the party to "condemn all acts of abuse without hesitation and to speed up the processes to deal with such acts".

The letter continues: "Whilst we welcome the commitment to solving this backlog by employing extra legal resources, it can’t be right that so many investigations into allegations of anti-Semitism remain outstanding or that it can take a year or more for an investigation to conclude."

The statement refers to Greater Manchester's Jewish communities and expresses regret that the party's reluctance to take action is "sending a worrying and dangerous message to the Jewish community that the Labour party does not care for them as much as it does for others".