Carwyn bars Corbyn
Labour leader stays away as First Minister calls for Livingstone to be expelled over ‘Nazi’ comments
JEREMY CORBYN has cancelled a campaign visit to Wales today at the request of Welsh Labour. Party insiders say the plea is over concerns about Corbyn’s leadership in the bitter row over alleged antiSemitism which yesterday led to former London Mayor Ken Livingstone being suspended by the Labour Party.
First Minister Carwyn Jones was the first major Labour figure to call for Mr Livingstone’s expulsion following what he described as “appalling” comments.
Today Labour Party leader Mr Corbyn was due to visit Pencoed but his trip was called off after discussions between his team and Welsh Labour officials.
A source close to the Welsh Labour election campaign said: “We’ve made the campaign about strong leadership and Carwyn’s unique position as the only credible First Minister. That’s a difficult sell with Jeremy and particularly after the last 24 hours.”
There are understood to be no other plans at present for Mr Corbyn to visit Wales before polling day next Thursday.
CARWYN JONES has called for Ken Livingstone to be expelled from the Labour Party after the former London Mayor was accused of being a “Nazi apologist”.
Mr Livingstone has been suspended by Labour for “bringing the party into disrepute” following the row over his comments on the radio yesterday morning.
In a BBC Radio London interview, Mr Livingstone claimed Hitler had supported Zionism before the Holocaust and insisted he had never heard anyone within Labour be anti-Semitic.
Wales’ First Minister Mr Jones said: “There is no place in the party for these views. These things aren’t a matter for debate. Ken Livingstone must be expelled today.”
Labour said it was launching an investigation.
Mr Livingstone’s comments were made as he tried to defend Bradford West MP Naz Shah from allegations of anti-Semitism.
Ms Shah was suspended on Wednesday pending an investigation into controversial social media posts about Israel which she made before becoming an MP.
But Mr Livingstone insisted that while her remarks were “over the top”, she was not anti-Semitic, and that he had never encountered anti-Semitism in 40 years in the Labour Party.
He sparked fury among colleagues by going on to claim that Hitler had supported Zionism “before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.
Labour’s London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan described his comments as “appalling and inexcusable” and Shadow Cabinet member Chris Bryant told the House of Commons he was “sick and tired” of people trying to explain away anti-Semitism, adding: “Yes, I’m talking to you, Ken Livingstone.”
A Labour spokesman said: “Ken Livingstone has been suspended by the Labour Party, pending an investigation, for bringing the party into disrepute.
“The chief whip has summoned John Mann MP to discuss his conduct.”
Mr Livingstone was harangued by backbencher Mr Mann as the pair arrived for separate interviews at broadcast studios in Westminster’s Millbank.
As the former London mayor, phone clamped to his ear, attempted to conduct a radio interview, the Bassetlaw MP jabbed his finger at him, accusing him of being a “Nazi apologist” and attempting to “rewrite history”.
Amid chaotic scenes, Mr Livingstone later took refuge in the toilet before emerging to face a growing pack of reporters.
Labour frontbenchers added their voices to calls for Mr Livingstone’s suspension.
Chief whip Rosie Winterton is hauling Mr Mann in for a meeting over his behaviour after he launched a furious face-to-face attack on Mr Livingstone, accusing him of being a “Nazi apologist”.
Jon Ashworth said he had “crossed a line” and “has to go”, while Chi Onwurah told the Press Association: “Ken’s comments are unacceptable and there cannot be one rule for him and another for everyone else.”
As furore over his comments grew, Mr Livingstone even lost the support of people on the left of the Labour movement.
The chairman of the Momentum group of Corbyn supporters, Jon Lansman, said it was “time he left politics altogether”, adding: “All political lives end in failure and he should now depart voluntarily.”
As the row unfolded in London, Mr Corbyn was at a Workers’
Memorial Day service in Grimsby, North-East Lincolnshire.
The Labour leader left partway through the service and did not answer questions about Mr Livingstone when asked by the Press Association.
Bernard Hughes, director of external affairs for the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC), said: “We do not believe the Labour Party is institutionally racist or anti-Semitic but sadly there are individuals within the party whose views and statements are anti-Semitic and have really shocked us.”
He said the Labour leadership “must now act decisively” to “combat this terrible issue”.
He added: “We have supported the request by the Jewish Labour Movement to have Ken Livingstone suspended from Labour for the offensive remarks he made this morning.”
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “It is quite clear that the Labour Party has got a problem with anti-Semitism.
“I think they have got to recognise that anti-Semitism is like racism, it is unacceptable in a modern political party and every political party facing this problem has got to deal with it.
“As I said to Jeremy Corbyn some weeks ago – when I was shouted down in the House of Commons with cries of ‘disgraceful’ from the Labour benches – they’ve got a problem, it is now totally apparent they’ve got a problem, and they have got to deal with it.”
Senior figures in the Labour Party who have called for action included former Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper who said the party needed an action plan to tackle anti-Semitism within its ranks.
“The Labour Party needs to do more than simply to have suspensions of people who have been saying anti-Semitic things,” she told Channel 4 News.
“We’ve actually got to have an action plan to deal with this in order to have strong processes so that there is swift action because you can never tolerate that kind of discrimination in the party.”