IAN Austin MP has said he felt 'moved' by the support of the 'decent' people of Dudley following the announcement that Labour Party disciplinary procedures against him have been dropped.

Mr Austin was notified this week by the General Secretary of the Labour Party that the party had closed its investigation and no further action will be taken against him, following a probe into Mr Austin's conduct following a Labour meeting last summer.

The meeting took place during the height of the party's internal row on anti-Semitism and the leadership's response to it.

Speaking of his constituent's support during the proceedings, he said: "I have been moved. People in Dudley are decent people and have supported me in standing up to it."

Mr Austin received a letter on July 19 notifying him that he was under investigation following allegations of abusive conduct, which he denied.

Responding to the dropping of the investigation, Mr Austin said: “I make no apologies for being upset about antisemitism - I think every Labour Party member ought to be angry about racism and the failure to deal with it properly, but I did not scream abuse as was alleged, so I am pleased the Labour Party have dropped its threat to hold an investigation.

"Frankly, they should never have threatened this in the first place. The way this whole issue has been handled is unacceptable and the time it has taken is appalling."

He explained that he joined the Labour Party in Dudley as a teenager to fight and he will not be 'deterred' from speaking out about anti-Semitism and racism in the party.

He added: “The Labour Party’s priority ought to be dealing with the outstanding cases of antisemitism and doing everything it can to win back the trust of the Jewish community, not investigating people like me for complaining about their failure to tackle antisemitism properly.

Last summer's anti-Semitism row which engulfed the party centred on the party leadership refusing to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of anti-Semitism and all of its examples- a controversial decision which was later reversed.

Mr Austin has been a vocal critic of the Labour leadership's handling of anti-Semitism in the party.

He continued: "It is a good job they finally adopted the standard internationally accepted definition of antisemitism and this must not now be reopened, rewritten or watered down."

He added that those responsible for racism in the party should be 'booted out'.

Now the procedure is over, he said: ""It's not about me. I am more worried about the people who are on the receiving end of anti-Semitism."