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Jewish leaders have called for a Tory MP to have the whip withdrawn for attending a conference with "some of Europe's most notorious far-right politicians".

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, spoke at a National Conservativism conference in Rome, where speakers included Hungary's far-right prime minister Viktor Orban.

The Board of Deputies of British Jews called on the Conservatives to discipline the backbencher, while Labour MP Dame Margaret Hodge and the Jewish Labour Movement wrote to the Tory chief whip calling for Mr Kawczynski's whip to be removed.

Mr Kawczynski argued that Mr Orban and Italy's Matteo Salvini, who both spoke at the conference, represent "serious ideas and concerns, some of which are shared by many citizens of the UK".

His behaviour was "unacceptable", the Muslim Council of Britain said.

Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "We condemn the decision by Conservative MP Daniel Kawczynski to speak at a conference alongside some of Europe's most notorious far-right politicians.

"Mr Kawczynski's defence, that 'it is only common sense to talk with parties and politicians that are either leading their respective countries, or will perhaps take power in the next few years', is a specious one, for the simple reason that the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham is not any sort of government representative.

"If the Conservative Party fails to discipline Mr Kawczynski, it runs the serious risk of the public assuming that they share his views on association with such people."

Mr Orban is seen as one of the leaders of Europe's growing right-wing movement, building a border fence with Serbia and Croatia during the 2015 European migrant crisis.

Mr Salvini is also a hardline anti-immigration leader, while fellow speaker Ryszard Legutko is a Polish Law and Justice MEP who reportedly described homophobia as a "totally fictitious problem".

Marion Marechal, the niece of far-right leader Marine Le Pen, was also on the line-up. She describes France as becoming "the little niece of Islam".

Mr Kawczynski, a Polish-born Brexiteer, wrote to local newspaper the Shropshire Star saying he would defy those who "deplored" him by speaking at the conference regardless.

"Clearly, Messrs Orban and Salvini are not to everyone's tastes," he wrote.

"But they represent serious ideas and concerns, some of which are shared by many citizens of the UK.

"They have certainly proved electorally attractive in their own countries and have every right to speak at a conference on the subject of national sovereignty, the very thing they have pledged to defend and which accounts for their popularity with voters."

In Dame Margaret's letter to the Tory chief whip, she wrote that Mr Kawczynski was "sharing a platform with a number of far-right European politicians who have made deeply offensive and dangerous comments".

"The Conservative Party now has a choice. It can demonstrate that there are lines that should not be crossed by Conservative MPs," she wrote.