Livingstone vows to fight suspension from party

FORMER London mayor Ken Livingstone has avoided expulsion from Labour over controversial comments about Adolf Hitler and Zionism, but has vowed to campaign against the further one-year suspension from the party imposed on him at a disciplinary hearing.

Mr Livingstone, who had threatened to launch a judicial review if he was forced out of the party, said he would now consult with lawyers about his legal position.

Addressing a crowd of journalists immediately after the hearing, Mr Livingstone said: “I expected them to expel me, so I’ve now got to consider whether I challenge this legally or just live with it.”

Mr Livingstone said the experience “was like sitting through a court in North Korea”.

He maintained that he had not brought the party into disrepute, saying: “There’s an issue here that matters – should someone be disciplined for stating a historical truth, and I think that’s really important.

“Labour MPs who tweeted that I was anti-Semitic, that I had said that Hitler was a Zionist, I was a Nazi apologist, no disciplinary action against them.

“I think that’s a double standard that’s unacceptable. MPs can’t be treated differently to ordinary party members. You can’t apologise for telling the truth.”

The ex-mayor said he would launch a campaign to have the suspension overturned.

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.”