Jeremy Corbyn reminds David Cameron the 'extremist' imam he just described is a Tory

'I did point out to the Prime Minister – I was actually trying to help him – that the gentleman concerned is actually a Conservative'

David Cameron used this week's PMQs session to continue his party's attempts to link Labour's mayoral candidate to an "extremist" imam - only for Jeremy Corbyn to remind him the man in question was a Conservative supporter.

The campaign for Tory London mayoral hopeful Zac Goldsmith has been widely criticised for its repeated efforts to associate rival Labour candidate Sadiq Khan with the controversial figure of Suliman Gani.

Mr Goldmith and the Prime Minister have consistently sought to refer to Mr Khan sharing a platform with Mr Gani, in what is perceived by many to be part of a calculated attempt to play to voters' prejudices around Mr Khan's Muslim faith.

The link had already been undermined by the revelation Mr Gani was a Conservative voter and had previously been invited to an event encouraging more Muslims to become Tory councillors.

Undeterred by this during his weekly exchange with the Labour leader and Islington MP, Mr Cameron said: “The honourable member for Islington might be interested in this. He [Gani] describes women as subservient to men, he said that homosexuality was an unnatural act.

"He stood on a platform with people who wanted an Islamic state. That is why his attempts to deal with antisemitism are utterly condemned to failure, because he won’t even condemn people who sit on platforms with people like that.”

To cheers from fellow Labour MPs, Mr Corbyn replied: “Mr Speaker, I did point out to the Prime Minister – I was actually trying to help him – that the gentleman concerned is actually a Conservative, so maybe he would care to think about that.

“He might also consider that Shazia Awan, a former Conservative Parliamentary candidate, said this of the Tory mayoral campaign: ‘I’ll be voting Labour. A life-long Tory voter and ex-candidate, I’m ashamed of the repulsive campaign of hate.’”