Labour MPs have reacted with anger at the huge amount of cash the party has reportedly splurged on the legal fees. The lawyer hired by the Labour Party last summer, Gordon Nardell, has been in charge of the legal services relating to the party’s anti-Semitism cases. One source told the Mail on Sunday: “Top lawyers may not come cheap but you really have to ask if we had to spend this money.

“So much of this antisemitism crisis is self-inflicted because Mr Corbyn and his cronies didn’t nip it in the bud.”

The Labour Party employing Mr Nardell was seen as controversial after he was revealed to have been active on the left wing of the party and said he shared Mr Corbyn’s views on Israel.

Mr Nardell stepped down from the role earlier this month, following a Panorama documentary which was critical of the way Labour has handled the issue.

His role included coordinating Labour’s response to an inquiry by the Equality and Human Rights Commission into how the party has handled anti-Semitism.

A spokesman for the Jewish Labour Movement said: “Gordon Nardell’s tenure as General Consel will be remarkable only for the absolute chaos and political manipulation within the Governance and Legal Unit that took place on his watch.

“The party leadership’s total failure to address anti-Jewish racism has led to the EHRC launching a statutory investigation into institutional racism. It is unsurprising that he has now resigned.

“The leadership must be held accountable for the culture of harassment, intimidation and causal racism that has gripped the party and follow Nardell’s example."

Mr Corbyn has failed to deny he has personally intervened in anti-Semitism cases and he refused to answer a question on Sky News on the issue.

On the failure of Labour to investigate antisemitism allegations, he said: “Where there is prima facie evidence of serious abuse then there is a need for a faster process… this is now being developed which will be voted on at this year’s conference.”

The Labour Party’s ruling body has backed a plan endorsed by Mr Corbyn to “fast track” expulsions of its members in serious anti-Semitism cases.

Many people believe that the current complaints process takes too much time and leads to too few expulsions in the Labour Party.

A huge 625 complaints were made about members in the first six months of 2019, eight cases resulted in expulsions and three in extended suspensions.