LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer has asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet after sharing an article by Bolton-born actor Maxine Peake containing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory, the party has said.

In an interview with The Independent newspaper to promote her new film, Fanny Lye Deliver’d, Ms Peake, said: “Systemic racism is a global issue. The tactics used by the police in America, kneeling on George Floyd’s neck, that was learnt from seminars with Israeli secret services.”

The article stated that a spokesperson for the Israeli police had denied this, stating that “there is no tactic or protocol that calls to put pressure on the neck or airway”.

Ms Long-Bailey, who is the MP for Salford and Eccles, subsequently posted a tweet saying her tweet sharing the interview was not intended to be an endorsement of everything in it.

Following criticism on social media after her quote tweet with the comment that “Maxine Peake is an absolute diamond”, the Shadow Education Secretary tweeted again to defend her original comment.

Ms Long-Bailey wrote: “I retweeted Maxine Peake’s article because of her significant achievements and because the thrust of her argument is to stay in the Labour Party. It wasn’t intended to be an endorsement of all aspects of the article.”

A spokesman for Mr Starmer said: "This afternoon Keir Starmer asked Rebecca Long-Bailey to step down from the shadow cabinet.

"The article Rebecca shared earlier today contained an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

"As leader of the Labour Party, Keir has been clear that restoring trust with the Jewish community is a number one priority. Antisemitism takes many different forms and it is important that we all are vigilant against it."

Ms Peake, who starred in the TV shows Shameless and Silk, has been an outspoken supporter of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.

In the new interview, she describes Mr Starmer as “a more acceptable face of the Labour Party for a lot of people who are not really left wing”, before adding: “But that’s fine. Whatever. As long as the Tories get out, I don’t care anymore.”