Rachel Reeves said Labour would have acted sooner if it had known of comments made about Israel and Jewish people by a parliamentary candidate, as the party faces accusations of dithering over the allegations.

The shadow chancellor insisted Sir Keir Starmer had intervened “swiftly” to “ensure the highest standards” as the party struggles to contain the fallout from reports about a private meeting of Lancashire Labour activists last year.

Labour withdrew support for its Rochdale by-election candidate, Azhar Ali, after it emerged he had allegedly blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of a pro-Palestinian MP.

But the party continues to be pressed on why it initially stood by Mr Ali after a leaked recording of the same meeting captured him suggesting that Israel had taken Hamas’ October 7 attack as a pretext to invade Gaza.

The aspiring MP, who would now sit as an independent if he won the Rochdale vote, has apologised for the initial remarks, saying they were the result of falling for “an online conspiracy theory”.

Labour later removed its backing for Graham Jones, its candidate for Hyndburn, after it was reported that he had used the words “f****** Israel” at the same meeting attended by Mr Ali.

Asked whether the party would look to tighten its selection process following the revelations, Ms Reeves told a press conference in central London: “Keir Starmer acted swiftly in response to the accusations and the stories that came out about Mr Ali and Mr Jones and that is absolutely right.

“In terms of the vetting procedure, my understanding is that this was a private meeting, not a Labour Party meeting, and the recording was released much later.

“Obviously, if we’d have known about these things, we would have taken action sooner. We can’t see everything everywhere, but when we do see evidence of antisemitism, we act swiftly to ensure the highest standards and rightly so amongst our MPs and amongst our parliamentary candidates.”

Ms Reeves said she would not have returned to the shadow cabinet unless she had been sure of Sir Keir’s commitment to root out antisemitism and “he hasn’t let me down”.

Labour came under serious pressure after Mr Ali’s original remarks emerged in the Mail On Sunday, with the comments condemned by figures inside the party as well as by political opponents.

Sir Keir has sought to move the party on from the Jeremy Corbyn era, which was often overshadowed by controversies surrounding the party’s handling of antisemitism allegations.

But the party leadership is being pressed on why it initially maintained its backing for the Rochdale candidate. Support was only pulled on Monday evening, when the Daily Mail reported that he had also blamed “people in the media from certain Jewish quarters” for the suspension of Andy McDonald from Labour.

It comes as Sir Keir faces another test of his authority in the coming days, with the SNP tabling a fresh motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, threatening to reopen party splits on the issue.

A similar vote brought by the Scottish nationalists last November prompted a major rebellion, with eight shadow ministers breaking rank to back the amendment to the King’s Speech.

Some 56 MPs defied a three-line whip ordering the party to abstain in order to support the SNP’s call.

The Labour leader has since hardened his tone towards Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and said the fighting “must stop now” with a “sustainable ceasefire” as the death toll in Gaza mounts.

Some 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage by Hamas when the militant group attacked Israeli communities on October 7.

More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed as Israel responds with one of the deadliest and most destructive military campaigns in recent history.