Copeland Labour councillors resign over Corbyn suspension

The Labour party said it took claims of "anti-Semitism extremely seriously"

Two councillors facing an inquiry over allegedly anti-Semitic Facebook posts have resigned from Labour over the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn.

The party had been investigating Copeland Borough Councillors Graham Calvin and Tom Higgins.

Both have confirmed to the BBC they have left the party because they object to the treatment of Mr Corbyn.

Labour said it would not comment on the cases but said any inquiry would end if the person being investigated had left.

Mr Calvin, who represents Moor Row and Bigrigg, said the investigation into him had not reached a conclusion at the time of his resignation.

The complaint concerned a post that appeared to be a response to an article about Jewish donors to the Labour Party.

Mr Calvin said his post was a wider comment about party funding.

The other complaint was about a post from a Facebook account that appears to belong to Mr Higgins, who represents Egremont.

It contained offensive language and refers to Israel and its "co-conspirators in the USA".

Mr Calvin said he agreed with Mr Corbyn's response to last week's report into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Mr Corbyn was suspended after saying the extent of anti-Semitism in the party was "dramatically overstated" by opponents.

Mr Higgins told BBC News the "established system" was "driving down free speech".