Jeremy Corbyn has emerged as the surprise frontrunner in the Labour leadership

He made the remarks in an interview last summer with the Moscow-funded news channel Russian Federation Today.

He then went on to compare the actions of Islamic State militants to those of US forces in the Iraqi city of Fallujah in 2004: “Yes they are brutal, yes some of what they have done is quite appalling, likewise what the Americans did in Fallujah and other places is appalling”. Respondents to the poll also voiced their opinion when politicians, like the Labour Party front-runner, described themselves as “anti-Zionist”.

“There are some people who have just come into the Labour Party for five minutes from the far left who regard everything Brown and Blair have done as something to be trashed and I’m not going to allow that to happen to my party”.

“I’ve also, in the past, criticised the direction of the Labour Party under its recent leadership”.

The London-based Jewish Chronicle published an editorial on August 17 in which it expressed “deep foreboding at the prospect of Mr. Corbyn’s election as Labour leader” because of “overwhelming evidence” of his association with a number of controversial figures.

Such an apology would be important symbolically – particularly in a party where Iraq remains a sore point, 12 years after Britain joined the US in the invasion – and signal a wider departure from existing Labour’s defence and foreign policy.

A spokesman for the bookmaker said: “In our eyes it is a done deal”.

In what has been dubbed the #LabourPurge over social media, the Labour Party is now rejecting huge numbers of applications to become a member, trade union affiliate, or supporter of the party in order to vote in the election.

But what distinguishes Corbyn from his fellow Labour leadership contenders aren’t so much his arguably antique but nonetheless presentably socialist proposals to rein in amok-running capitalists, his plans to re-nationalize the railways and strengthen the National Health Service or even the one about reopening some of the coal mines that were shuttered during the Thatcher era.

“Paddy Power is PAYING OUT a whopping £100k on Jeremy Corbyn as the next leader of the Labour party”.

One senior source branded Mr Corbyn “clueless” and “10 times worse than Michael Foot” while another told The Herald the leftwinger, if he won the Labour crown, would last only 18 months.

“It has also lost Labour the votes of millions of our natural supporters, who marched and protested against the war”.

Many were vetoed retroactively after they had cast their vote, raising concerns of “McCarthyite” style purges of the party’s left wing – in particular Corbyn voters.

The MP made a vow that suggests future UK military interventions will become rarer: “Let us say we will never again unnecessarily put our troops under fire and our country’s standing in the world at risk”.

His comments could prove significant if he wins as David Cameron is widely expected to ask Parliament to approve air strikes against IS in Syria.

Mr Corbyn told the Guardian that Labour would “never again flout the United Nations and worldwide law”.