A new low for Labour as Ken survives Hitler storm
MP’s scathing verdict on own party
Labour was last night at the centre of an antiSemitism storm as Ken Livingstone was allowed to remain a party member – despite his claims adolf Hitler supported Zionism. Jewish members accused the party of betrayal as the former London mayor escaped being kicked out and was suspended for a year instead.
The 71-year- old Left-winger, who earlier threatened to seek a judicial review if he was expelled, said that he had expected to be kicked out.
Labour’s National Constitutional Committee found he had acted in a way that was ‘grossly detrimental to the party’. Though he will be suspended from holding office for two years, one of which has been served, it is understood he will still be able to attend party meetings and vote.
Labour MP Luciana berger, who is Jewish, said: ‘a new low for my party this evening. appalling decision. Why is anti-Semitism being treated differently from any other form of racism?’ and Jeremy Newmark, who is chairman of the Jewish Labour Movement, called Mr Livingstone’s suspension ‘quite insufficient’.
He said: ‘It seems the party is operating some kind of revolvingdoor policy where one can make deeply hurtful and offensive comments, deny the history of the Holocaust, and dip in and out of party membership. It’s a betrayal of the values of our party and what it stands for.
‘I feel they’ve fudged an incredibly important and significant decision, a moment that could have been a turning point for the Labour Party in proving that it has zero tolerance for anti-Semitism appears to have been wasted.’
a Jewish Labour Movement source told the Guido Fawkes website the move was ‘f***ing shameful’.
as he left the meeting in London, Mr Livingstone said: ‘You cannot apologise for telling the truth. There’s an issue here that matters – should someone be disciplined for
‘This looks like an embarrassing fudge’
stating a historical truth – and I think that’s really important.’
He insisted he had been disciplined by the right of his party within the party because of his support for leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Michael Dugher MP, vice- chairman of Labour Friends of Israel, said: ‘ Ken Livingstone should be kicked out for good.
‘Years of supposed long service and closeness to the leadership do not entitle you to a free pass when it comes to anti-Semitism.
‘Labour have spent 12 months investigating what to every sensible person is an open-and-shut case.
‘This looks like an embarrassing fudge. The Jewish board of Deputies said it was anti-Semitism, as did the Holocaust Education Trust, the Jewish Labour Movement and the chief rabbi. Is the party really saying it knows more about antiSemitism than the chief rabbi?’
Labour MP Wes Streeting said: ‘This decision makes a mockery of the claim Labour takes a zero tolerance approach to anti-Semitism.
‘ Ken Livingstone’s offensive remarks toward the Jewish community date back to his second term as mayor of London and have already inflicted significant damage on our party.’ Mr Livingstone was sus- pended in april last year after he claimed that Hitler had supported Zionism ‘before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews’.
Last night Tory MP Mike Freer said: ‘It beggars belief that Labour won’t deal with the anti-Semitism problem in their party.
‘once again they had an opportunity to send a clear message that anti-Semitism has no place in politics or society, but they bottled it.
‘This is another example of how out of touch they are with the values of ordinary working people.’
In 2005 Mr Livingstone was heavily criticised after he accused a Jewish reporter of behaving ‘like a concentration camp guard’.
a disciplinary panel suspended him from his mayoral role for four weeks but the High Court later reversed the decision.
and in 2012, he caused further controversy when he claimed ‘rich Jews’ would never vote for him as London mayor.
Two years later he claimed that the Jewish community had been ‘solidly Labour’ but as it ‘got richer, it moved over to voting for Mrs Thatcher’. Mr Livingstone was thrown out of the Labour Party in 2000 when he ran for London mayor as an independent. He was reinstated in 2004. j.stevens@dailymail.co.uk