Labour has published its plan for dealing with anti-Semitism within the party in response to a highly damning report by the equality watchdog.

The plan published on Thursday seeks to create an independent process to investigate complaints, prevent the leader and his office from influencing outcomes, and deal with a backlog of cases.

The issues were cited as problems during the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) in finding the party broke the law in its handling of anti-Semitism.

The formal response to the EHRC report is a major test for the party as it seeks to restore its reputation with the Jewish community.

In the plan’s foreword, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and his deputy Angela Rayner said: “We failed the Jewish community, our members, our supporters and the country.

“That is why we must act to drive anti-Semitism out of our party and change the processes, structures and the culture of the party to ensure Jewish people feel safe to return to their political home.

“That requires more than just words. It requires action.

“The action plan for driving out anti-Semitism from the Labour Party published today sets out concrete steps and a timetable to do this.”