British film director Ken Loach faced an anti-Semitism row in Belgium Thursday after Prime Minister Charles Michel led opposition to him being granted a university doctorate.

Michel joined Jewish groups in expressing regret that the Free University of Brussels, one of the country's leading institutions and the one at which he studied law, was going to bestow the honorary degree on Loach.

The comments fed into a simmering row in Britain about anti-Semitism in the opposition Labour party as the director is a major supporter of its leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has been accused of failing to tackle the problem.

The Belgian award to Loach comes as organisers of a major music prize in neighbouring Germany scrapped their main award due to a row over this year's winners, a rap duo who have been slammed for lyrics about the Nazi death camp Auschwitz.

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