Red Ken quits Labour at last over rant about Hitler (but Corbyn says it’s ‘sad’)
KEN Livingstone has finally quit the Labour Party in a bid to stem the anti-Semitism crisis that has dogged Jeremy Corbyn for months.
Last night, the former London Mayor – one of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies – said he would resign rather than face a disciplinary hearing in the coming weeks.
He was facing charges that his claim that Hitler supported Zionism had brought Labour into disrepute.
Mr Livingstone said the row about his case had become a ‘distraction’ from Mr Corbyn’s bid for power. He had been suspended for two years and his case had become a running sore in Labour’s relations with the Jewish community.
Mr Corbyn said he was ‘sad’ to see his old comrade quit.
Moderate Labour MPs had said his removal was the acid test of whether Mr Corbyn was taking the anti-Semitism crisis seriously.
Mr Livingstone’s decision to quit leaves the question unresolved and there were even claims he could try to return when the row has abated.
Karen Pollock, chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, welcomed his departure.
But she said: ‘It’s a great shame Labour did not expel him a long time ago for his repeatedly offensive remarks.
‘While Mr Livingstone may have left the Labour Party, the problem of anti-Semitism has not.
‘Let’s hope it’s dealt with. Urgently.’
Last night, Mr Livingstone insisted he was not anti-Semitic, despite claiming again this month that the Zionists who fought for an independent Israel in the 1930s had ‘collaborated’ with Hitler.
But he also offered the first apology for his remarks, originally made in 2016 and repeated several times since. In a statement, he said: ‘I recognise that the way I made a historical argument has caused offence and upset in the Jewish community. I am truly sorry for that.’
Last night, Mr Corbyn issued a statement saying: ‘Ken Livingstone’s resignation is sad after such a long and vital contribution to London and progressive politics, but was the right thing to do.’
Labour MP Chris Williamson, another close ally of Mr Corbyn, praised Mr Livingstone as a ‘towering figure’ who ‘popularised progressive socialism’.
He added: ‘He popularised progressive socialism and was labelled a “Loony Lefty” nearly 40 years ago for his efforts to cham- pion public services, stand up for marginalised groups and fight all forms of racism.’
However, Mr Livingstone’s resignation appeared to leave the door open to a possible return in the future.
One party source said: ‘They didn’t have the balls to expel him and this gives him a route back.’
Moderate Labour MPs welcomed Mr Livingstone’s decision but said he should have been expelled to make it impossible for him to ever return. They also pushed for action against those in the party who have defended him.
Wes Streeting said: ‘Ken Livingstone’s exit from the Labour Party is welcome, but he should have been expelled.
‘We must now make it clear that he will never be welcome to return. His vocal cheerleaders and supporters should follow him out the door.’
Fellow MP Ruth Smeeth, who has been the target of vicious antiSemitic abuse from the Left, said his ‘toxic views’ should have seen him expelled years ago, adding: ‘Good riddance’.
Senior Labour sources had indicated as recently as Easter that Mr Corbyn was prepared to stand by his old friend.
But the mood hardened after this month’s local elections in England. The anti-Semitism row was widely blamed for damaging Labour’s results, particularly in Barnet, North London, which had been its top target but went Tory.
Shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti hinted at the change of heart in Mr Corbyn’s inner circle earlier this month, saying it was ‘very difficult to see that any rational decision-maker in the light of what has happened in the last two years could find a place for Mr Livingstone in our party at this moment’.
Labour MP John Mann, who campaigned for Mr Livingstone’s expulsion, said he was ‘responsible’ for Labour’s failure in Barnet, which has a large Jewish population, in recent local elections.
Mr Livingstone said the timing of his decision came after he learned moderate members of Labour’s ruling National Executive Committee had planned to step up calls for his expulsion at a meeting today.
In his statement, he said he was leaving with ‘great sadness’. He said his lawyers had warned him that fighting the case could take another two years.
He added: ‘I do not accept the allegation that I have brought the Labour Party into disrepute – nor that I am in any way guilty of anti-Semitism.
‘I abhor anti-Smitism, I have fought it all my life and will continue to do so.’