PLANS to screen a controversial film in Irvine have been cancelled after concerns over antisemitism were raised with council bosses.

The film, Oh, Jeremy Corbyn! The Big Lie was due to be shown at the town's Harbour Arts Centre, which is owned by North Ayrshire Council, on Thursday, July 27.

The event was organised by the Ayrshire Morning Star Readers and Supporters Group.

It's understood the venue was unaware of the nature of the film.

The concerns were raised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) - which has now announced that the screening has been cancelled.

A spokesperson for the CAA said: "Following correspondence with Campaign Against Antisemitism, North Ayrshire Council has cancelled a screening of a propaganda film about the antisemitic former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

"The booking is understood to have been made by a third party, and not by the venue itself, which we understand was not made aware of the nature of the film."

According to the CAA, scheduled screenings of the film have been cancelled by the Glastonbury Festival, YMCA, Unite union, Basildon Council, the national pub retailer Greene King, Tolpuddle Village Hall, Yeovil Labour Club, a Nottinghamshire church and independent venues around the country after the CAA's intervention.

The film claims that it “investigates the ‘secret war’ waged against Corbyn” and questions whether there was an “orchestrated campaign” against the former Labour Party leader.

Mr Corbyn was suspended from the Labour party after the Equality and Human Rights Commission, in a report published in October 2020, found that under his leadership the party had failed to address antisemitism within its ranks.

The report also identified cases of harassment, political interference into complaints, and inadequate training to deal with antisemitism.

At the time of the report's publication Mr Corbyn said "one antisemite is one too many", but also claimed the scale of the problem had been "dramatically overstated for political reasons" by his opponents inside and outside Labour.

Speaking after the screening was cancelled by the council, a CAA spokesperson said: "Campaign Against Antisemitism commends the council for its swift and decisive action to cancel the screening as soon as we brought it to its attention."