Former Labour parliamentary candidate accused of anti-Semitism after retweeting a far-right meme

John Clarke denies the allegations saying he was not aware of the meme's origins

The anti-semitism row is the latest in a long line of controversies that have plagued Jeremy Corbyn (Getty)

A Labour councillor has denied he is anti-semitic after he shared a tweet by neo-Nazi containing slurs against the Israel and the Rothschild family.

John Clarke claimed the meme was “an oversimplified view of the world economy but containing a great deal of truth” as he retweeted it.

It suggested that Israel controlled both houses in the US House of Representatives and that the country, along with the Rothschild family, had taken over the world.

He later apologised, saying he did not realise the user, Tinnelle88, was spreading far-right hate speech and conspiracy theories. But he had not deleted it at the time of publication.

The account, which is based in New Zealand, has frequently tweeted false news reports denying the Holocaust, claimed that Adolf Hitler “was right” and cited conspiracy theories about Jews.

Mr Clarke, who sits on Black Notley Parish Council in Essex, told The Independent he was not anti-Semitic and was instead against the Israeli government’s conduct in the occupied territories.

The retired maths lecturer, who lost out to the Secretary of State for International Development, Priti Patel in the 2015 General Election, said: “I continue to stand unequivocally behind the rights of Palestinian people and I am against the illegal activity of the Israeli government as outlined by the United Nations.

“I have made clear that I am not anti-Semitic and that I do not hold anti-Semitic views. Yesterday, I retweeted a post without first checking who had posted it. An error on my part which I regret.

“When I found out who had originally posted the tweet, I made my thoughts on that person clear, on Twitter, and then I blocked him/her. By that time people with a vastly different agenda to mine appeared to have decided that they want to make mischief of my error.”

He later tweeted that he objected to “Rothschild and co” because of their “greed, monopolistic exploitations and unchecked power”.

The Rothschild family descended from a wealthy 18th century German-Jewish financier, Meyer Amschel Rothschild, and went on to become of the richest families in the world.

They have since been the target of many unfounded conspiracy theories – many of which are anti-Semitic in nature.

Mr Clarke’s comments have reignited the controversy over anti-Semitism within the Labour party which has plagued leader Jeremy Corbyn over the past year.

The party was forced to confront a series of incidents last year including remarks made by members on Twitter and at public meetings.

Former London Mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended by the party after he made remarks suggesting Hitler supported Zionism.

Baroness Chakrabarti published a report on 30 June which said Labour was “not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism”.

Her 20 recommendations included that “members should resist the use of Hitler, Nazi and Holocaust metaphors”.

Mr Corbyn was also heavily criticised when a Jewish MP, Ruth Smeeth, left the audience of his speech denouncing anti-Semitism in tears after an audience member accused her of “colluding” with the right-wing media.

A report into anti-Semitism in the Labour Party was then produced former director of campaign group Liberty, Baroness Shami Chakrabarti.

It said Labour was “not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism”.

Her 20 recommendations included that “members should resist the use of Hitler, Nazi and Holocaust metaphors”.