JEWISH OUTCRY

British Jewish groups have demanded the expulsion of Ken Livingstone from the Labour Party after he defended an MP suspended in an anti-Semitism row.

Jewish groups branded the comments “beyond disgraceful” and called for him to be kicked out of the Labour Party.

Gideon Falter, chairman of Campaign Against Antisemitism, said: “The Labour Party must expel Ken Livingstone. Today he has claimed that Hitler was a Zionist and that anti-Semitism is not racism.

“Enough is enough. He should not be suspended, he should be expelled today.

“He is a hardened politician who has spent his political career accommodating anti-Semitic extremists and making anti-Semitic gaffes. Jeremy Corbyn should understand that zero tolerance for racism is all or nothing, and it is time for Ken Livingstone to be banished or for Corbyn to stop pretending to oppose racism.”

Jonathan Arkush, the president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: “Ken Livingstone’s comments were abhorrent and beyond disgraceful.

“He denies anti-Semitism in Labour when the evidence is there for all to see. He lacks any sense of reality and decency. He must now be expelled from the Labour Party.”