A councillor who suggested the leader of the Labour Party is a “holocaust denier” has been slammed and asked to retract his statement and apologise.

Councillor Raj Singh, a Conservative councillor for Reading Borough Council (RBC), tweeted: “Having a holocaust denier in number 10 will be catastrophic for the country” while retweeting a post about Jeremy Corbyn.

Labour councillor Jason Brock, leader of RBC, called for the retraction and apology.

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He said: “I understand that a member of the Conservative party would want to attack the Labour leader but unsubstantiated allegations of holocaust denial are very dangerous.

“I would suggest he retract the statement and apologise. I would note that a former cabinet member was forced to retract a similar statement.”

Fellow Labour councillor Adele Barnett-Ward added: “Sajid Javid called Corbyn a Holocaust denier last year and had to retract it. Raj might want to do a bit more research.”

Cllr Singh, who represents Kentwood ward in west Reading, posted the tweet two weeks ago, responding to a tweet by Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust.

The Kentwood councillor stood by his comments and said they referred to “how many of his Jewish friends feel about the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn”.

Cllr Singh has campaigned alongside Alok Sharma MP in Kentwood for over six years and regularly volunteers within the local community for NHS and Alzheimer charities, according to the Reading West Conservatives website.

Home secretary Sajid Javid was forced to backtrack last year after being accused of suggesting that Mr Corbyn is a Holocaust denier.

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Mr Javid said: “Corbyn is not a Holocaust denier. I am happy to make that clear.”

Denying the holocaust is illegal in 16 European countries but not in the UK.

The regional Labour Party and Reading West Labour and Conservative parliamentary candidates have been approached for comment.