JEREMY Corbyn has insisted Labour is ready to “fight and win” the next general election as his party continues to be engulfed by an anti-Semitism row.

It came as he condemned a former Labour MP who appeared to say he had lost respect for the Jewish community on the back of the recent controversy.

Jim Sheridan has been suspended from Labour following a complaint about a social media post.

The former Paisley and Renfrewshire North MP, now a councillor in Renfrewshire, is under investigation over the comments, in which he is reported to have expressed a loss of “respect and empathy” for the Jewish community.

Mr Corbyn said: “It’s completely wrong what [Jim Sheridan] said. He did withdraw it later on, he has been suspended from membership, there will be an independent investigation – independent of me, that is – so I can’t comment any further.

“We do not tolerate anti-Semitism in any form, in our party or anywhere in our society.”

Mr Corbyn vowed to take action against anyone who behaves in an anti-Semitic way as he kicked off a four-day visit to Scotland.

The Labour leader has come under increasing pressure over a number of issues linked to anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the party’s definition of anti-Semitism and his 2014 visit to a Palestinian cemetery in Tunisia. Yesterday, he said he could not remember having dinner with Hamas chief Khaled Mashal in Gaza in 2010, despite reports of him recounting such a meeting in a column for the Morning Star newspaper.

Ephraim Borowski, of the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities, dismissed suggestions the ongoing row was being used to undermine Mr Corbyn’s leadership.

Meanwhile, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has been accused of “empty, hollow words”

after failing to expel a councillor who admitted making Islamophobic comments.

Jim Dempster told officials thentransport minister Humza Yousaf may have visited his area, but “no-one would have seen him under his burka”.

He was suspended in March, but Mr Yousaf – now Justice Secretary – said he had yet to be interviewed by the party and no further action had been taken five months on.

Mr Yousaf called on Mr Leonard to “step up” and show he is serious about tackling Islamophobia by his “deeds not empty, hollow words”.

Last night, Mr Corbyn told the Edinburgh International Book Festival that Labour would seek a “substantial” Brexit transition period if it took over negotiations with the EU.

He insisted he was “not complacent” about the party’s electoral performance, adding: “We have got to do much better.”

But, as he continues his Scottish tour today with a visit to New Lanark, he will tell party candidates Labour is ready to win the next vote.

He said: “We are within touching distance of a Labour government that works for the many, not the few.

Make no mistake, we are ready to fight and win the next general election.

“While the Tory Government stumbles from one crisis to another, Labour is selecting candidates and laying the groundwork to win the next election – whenever it is called.

“Labour has the candidates and the policies that will provide the hope, transformation and investment that Scotland needs and which I believe will help us win the next general election.

“It will be Scottish voters who kick the Tories out of Downing Street when the time comes – and the whole of the UK will benefit from a Labour government that ends austerity and invests in our people and public services.”