A Tory MP was completely at a loss when asked to defend smears made by his colleagues that Jeremy Corbyn sold secrets to the Communists.

In a painful interview Steve Baker refused to back up claims made by the defence secretary, security minister and Ben Bradley MP but insisted the labour leader is "a danger to the country".

The BBC presenter Andrew Neil said: "Surely the real scandal isn't what Jeremy Corbyn supposedly has or hasn't done, but the outright lies and disinformation that your fellow Tories are spreading!"

But Mr Baker refused to be drawn on any of the comments made by his fellow Tory MPs.

He said: "My colleagues will need to defend what they said."

In the excruciating exchange Andrew Neil asked the Brexiteer to say that Mr Corbyn was a collaborator with Czech spies, which the Labour leader denies.

Steve Baker was put under the grill in a BBC interview
The Tory minister was savaged by BBC host Andrew Neil, right

Mr Baker said "Jeremy Corbyn is a grave danger to this country and that's because of his ideas."

Mr Neil pressed him asking "do you think he has betrayed his country?"

The journalist asked him again to comment saying: "Your fellow Tories are all piling in".

Mr Corbyn's lawyers today demanded an apology and charity donation from Tory MP Ben Bradley after he tweeted: "Corbyn sold British secrets to communist spies".

BBC presenter Mr Neil also brought up comments made by the security minister Ben Wallace who compared the leader of the opposition to double agent Kim Philby.

Mr Wallace tweeted: “‘Jeremy has been interested in Foreign Policy issues his entire political career’ - Labour MP Louise Haigh , BBC Daily Politics - yup so was Kim Philby.”

Mr Neil said: "Kim Philby was a traitor at the time if he'd been found guilty he could have been hanged.

Kim Philby in a secret video showing his long-term career as a double agent for the Soviet Union (
Image:
PA)

"That's an outrageous smear to say of the leader of the opposition."

But Mr Baker refused to acknowledge the serious nature of the slurs against Mr Corbyn by his collegaues.

He said: "I'm not going to accuse my colleagues of lies or disinformation they will need to defend what they've said."

Mr Neil was unequivocal in saying that the allegations of Mr Corbyn were clearly slurs saying: "It is clearly a lie on any evidence so far available to us that Mr Corbyn sold British secrets to the Communists."

Mr Corbyn has admitted meeting a man he thought was a Czech diplomat. He has denied knowingly meeting a spy.