JEREMY Corbyn was fighting on two fronts last night after sacking Shadow Cabinet Minister Owen Smith over Brexit and appearing to support the painter of an allegedly anti-Semitic mural.

The Labour leader fired Smith for calling for a second European Union referendum, leading to a backlash from pro-Remain MPs.

And he got caught up in a row over his response six years ago to a Facebook post by street artist Mear One about the plan to paint over the controversial mural.

Responding to the rows engulfing Labour, MP Wes Streeting said: "If only anti-semites were dealt with as swiftly as Remainers."

The decision to sack Smith, who Corbyn defeated for the leadership in 2016, for deviating from the official party line led to accusations of a "terrible Stalinist purge" from former Northern Ireland secretary Lord Peter Hain.

Labour MP Mike Gapes said it appeared that "free speech is allowed for anti-semites but not for Labour MPs supporting the views of our members and our 2016 conference policy on the EU".

Smith said he had been sacked for his views on the "damage" Brexit will do to the UK's economy and the Good Friday Agreement.

In an apparent message to Corbyn, he added: "Those views are shared by Labour members and supporters and I will continue to speak up for them, and in the interest of our country."

Asked if the Labour leader was tough on pro-EU MPs but weak on anti-semitism, Smith said: "Well he was certainly tough on me."

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme yesterday he said: "Jeremy Corbyn clearly wants to take a different position to that which I advocate, a more eurosceptic position, if you like, on Brexit.

"My view is that the Labour Party needs to show leadership on this issue, it's the biggest economic crisis that our country will have faced for many, many generations."

Corbyn's response to Mear One questioned why the painting was being destroyed and said the artist was "in good company" because the Rockefeller family had covered over a work featuring Lenin in their New York development.

The mural, in east London, depicted a group of businessmen playing a Monopoly-style game on a board balanced on the backs of people.

The artist denied being anti-semitic, saying the mural is about "class and privilege" and contains a group of bankers "made up of Jewish and white Anglos".

Corbyn said he made a "general comment about the removal of public art on grounds of freedom of speech" but acknowledged he should have looked more closely at the image before posting on Facebook.

He said: "I sincerely regret that I did not look more closely at the image I was commenting on, the contents of which are deeply disturbing and anti-semitic."

It is the latest row over anti-semitism to hit Labour and MP Chuka Umunna said "there clearly is an issue" within the party.

"It isn't that a majority of our members are anti-semitic but there's definitely amongst the minority a real problem here which is not in keeping with the values of the Labour Party," he said.