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| Labour antisemitism crisis: party deals with fallout of Livingstone suspension – live | Labour antisemitism crisis: party deals with fallout of Livingstone suspension – live |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| 10.29am BST | |
| 10:29 | |
| The Jewish Labour movement, an organisation officially affiliated with the party, have tweeted a statement comparing Livingstone’s actions to Bradford MP Naz Shah’s. The group had previously praised her apology, saying she was a brave politician who was on a journey. | |
| Following on from yesterday we are calling for Ken Livingstone to be swiftly and permanently expelled from Labour. No more second chances. | |
| We believe that Naz Shah is authentic in her apology. Ken Livingstone denies wrongdoing. This is not a one off. He can no longer be excused. | |
| This was their earlier statement on Shah. | |
| Welcome statement from Jewish Labour Movement (via @juliamacfarlane). Agree with this https://t.co/N6BzAibEwe pic.twitter.com/vFS69JTxSc | |
| 10.13am BST | |
| 10:13 | |
| Lord Sugar, the former Labour peer and party donor, has told BBC 5 live Breakfast Ken Livingstone was “obsessed” with “Hitler, concentration camps and Jews”. | |
| Lord Sugar: Livingstone's comments "stupid and ignorant"https://t.co/L52LQ9LJq6 pic.twitter.com/mTHFeUWqNB | |
| “Words fail that the person who once had a senior position as mayor of London and a member of the party could be so stupid and ignorant. I think he’s lost the plot,” he said. | |
| He knew it was going to be provocative. One can only think that he purposefully did it. A sensible, intelligent person doesn’t speak like that. | |
| Sugar, who left Labour last year, said he had no faith that the party would effectively tackle the problem. “They’re all peas in the same pod and they’ll wait for it to blow over and find some way of him slipping back into the Labour fold,” he said. | |
| Updated | |
| at 10.14am BST | |
| 10.08am BST | |
| 10:08 | |
| Ken Livingstone, who said yesterday he wouldn’t be giving any more broadcast interviews, has been out walking his dog in Cricklewood, north London. And not talking to the press. | |
| Anyone interested in what he had to say would have to “tune in” to him on LBC on Saturday, he told reporters, according to PA. | |
| 10.05am BST | |
| 10:05 | |
| George Galloway, a close friend of Livingstone, has been on Sky News, where he said the former mayor had “said absolutely nothing wrong. Everything he said was the truth. Historical fact.” | |
| George Galloway calls Labour anti-Semitism row "an entirely synthetic crisis. Ken Livingstone said nothing wrong" https://t.co/k2ezZlJUg3 | |
| 10.02am BST | |
| 10:02 | |
| Momentum chair - Time for Livingstone to 'move on' but he should not be sacked | |
| Jon Lansman, the left-wing Labour activist who ran Corbyn’s leadership campaign and is now chair of Momentum, has been on the Victoria Derbyshire programme in the last half an hour. On Twitter yesterday, he called for Livingstone to retire from political life. | |
| He spoke to Joanna Gosling, who asked if Livingstone should be expelled permanently. | |
| I didn’t call for him to be suspended, I called for him to retire. The comments were very ill-judged, intemperate, wrong and offensive. | |
| The trouble is that Ken hasn’t really got a role any more but he’s still someone who is invited in to TV studios. He said some things that were very ill-judged and he needs to recognise it’s time for him to move on. | |
| Lansman said the comments by John Mann, that Livingstone was a “Nazi apologist” were “as silly as anything Ken said”. But he said he took great issue with the idea that Hitler had been a Zionist “before he went mad” as Ken put it. | |
| Hitler was always deeply anti-semitic, and so I don’t agree with Ken. I don’t think it’s a matter of Hitler going mad. But we also need to recognise that Ken is not an anti-semite or not a Nazi apologist. He did many good things for London. | |
| Lansman says that Livingstone should not be sacked from the Labour party but should “move on” from the National Executive Committee. | |
| I don’t think Labour has a particular problem with antisemitism. I think society has a problem with anti-semitism. I think there are people with certain interests stoking this row. | |
| There are people at Conservative head office who have been trawling Twitter feeds and Facebook pages looking for evidence, stored until a week before the local elections. | |
| We have very few cases of real anti-semitism, people are exhibiting prejudices. Prejudices are in all of us. We need to acknowledge there is antisemitism in society, in all political parties including the Labour party. | |
| Updated | |
| at 10.03am BST | |
| 9.34am BST | 9.34am BST |
| 09:34 | 09:34 |
| Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader who avoided much of the fray on Thursday, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier. Corbyn was at a Q&A and a memorial service in Grimsby as calls for Livingstone’s suspension grew. | Tom Watson, Labour’s deputy leader who avoided much of the fray on Thursday, spoke to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme earlier. Corbyn was at a Q&A and a memorial service in Grimsby as calls for Livingstone’s suspension grew. |
| On Corbyn’s first response to Livingstone’s comments: | On Corbyn’s first response to Livingstone’s comments: |
| I just ask people to take a look at what [Corbyn] actually did yesterday, within hours of Ken Livingstone making those comments. | I just ask people to take a look at what [Corbyn] actually did yesterday, within hours of Ken Livingstone making those comments. |
| It wasn’t easy for Jeremy Corbyn yesterday. Ken Livingstone is a 40-year ally of Jeremy and what he did was act swiftly. | It wasn’t easy for Jeremy Corbyn yesterday. Ken Livingstone is a 40-year ally of Jeremy and what he did was act swiftly. |
| In fact, I don’t think he could have moved any quicker to deal with Ken Livingstone.” | In fact, I don’t think he could have moved any quicker to deal with Ken Livingstone.” |
| On reports that Corbyn’s team had wanted Mann suspended as well: | On reports that Corbyn’s team had wanted Mann suspended as well: |
| What I do know is that when issues like this come up in a party, everyone gives leaders advice, very often contradictory advice and ultimately it’s leaders that make the call. | What I do know is that when issues like this come up in a party, everyone gives leaders advice, very often contradictory advice and ultimately it’s leaders that make the call. |
| Asked about Corbyn’s meetings with members of Hamas when he was a backbench MP: | Asked about Corbyn’s meetings with members of Hamas when he was a backbench MP: |
| When you lead a political party, sometimes you need to take political risks and that might be you talk to people who hold contradictory or offensive views in the pursuit of peace and Jeremy is always going to do that, but if we are in a situation where that creates a perceived culture, or a culture that people are not welcome in the party, then we need to deal with it. | When you lead a political party, sometimes you need to take political risks and that might be you talk to people who hold contradictory or offensive views in the pursuit of peace and Jeremy is always going to do that, but if we are in a situation where that creates a perceived culture, or a culture that people are not welcome in the party, then we need to deal with it. |
| On Jewish Labour party members: | On Jewish Labour party members: |
| Jews have always played an important role in the Labour party, leading in important positions because of the shared values that we have. | Jews have always played an important role in the Labour party, leading in important positions because of the shared values that we have. |
| 9.29am BST | 9.29am BST |
| 09:29 | 09:29 |
| Ken Livingstone's suspension from the Labour party | Ken Livingstone's suspension from the Labour party |
| Good morning, we’re following the aftermath of Labour’s chaotic day which resulted in the suspension of former London mayor Ken Livingstone for a day which began with him telling broadcasters Hitler had been a Zionist, and ended with a slanging match between him and MP John Mann, and the ex-mayor hiding in a disabled toilet, with the waiting press outside. | Good morning, we’re following the aftermath of Labour’s chaotic day which resulted in the suspension of former London mayor Ken Livingstone for a day which began with him telling broadcasters Hitler had been a Zionist, and ended with a slanging match between him and MP John Mann, and the ex-mayor hiding in a disabled toilet, with the waiting press outside. |
| Livingstone had original been on BBC London to defend Bradford West MP Naz Shah, who has suspended on Wednesday for antisemitic Facebook posts, for which she apologised. | Livingstone had original been on BBC London to defend Bradford West MP Naz Shah, who has suspended on Wednesday for antisemitic Facebook posts, for which she apologised. |
| Mann, who called Livingstone a “disgrace” as he confronted him outside the Millbank broadcast studios, was called to a meeting with chief whip Rosie Winterton and told his behaviour was unacceptable. A petition, which has more than 5,800 supporters, is calling for the Bassetlaw MP to also be suspended for bringing the party into disrepute. | Mann, who called Livingstone a “disgrace” as he confronted him outside the Millbank broadcast studios, was called to a meeting with chief whip Rosie Winterton and told his behaviour was unacceptable. A petition, which has more than 5,800 supporters, is calling for the Bassetlaw MP to also be suspended for bringing the party into disrepute. |
| On Question Time last night, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said the party had to handle these situations better. | On Question Time last night, shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said the party had to handle these situations better. |
| These allegations, when they are surfacing, are not being dealt with properly and quickly enough. They need to be dealt with much more speedily in the future. | These allegations, when they are surfacing, are not being dealt with properly and quickly enough. They need to be dealt with much more speedily in the future. |
| If I thought for one second that I was a member of an antisemitic party I would cut up my membership card, right here, right now. I don’t believe that is the case. | If I thought for one second that I was a member of an antisemitic party I would cut up my membership card, right here, right now. I don’t believe that is the case. |
| His predecessor as shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, also criticised the way the debacle had been handled, speaking to Channel 4 News last night. | His predecessor as shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, also criticised the way the debacle had been handled, speaking to Channel 4 News last night. |
| The Labour party needs to do more than simply to have suspensions of people who have been saying antisemitic things. | The Labour party needs to do more than simply to have suspensions of people who have been saying antisemitic things. |
| 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. | 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. |
| Livingstone has said he will give no more interviews until his LBC show on Saturday, which begins at 10am. | Livingstone has said he will give no more interviews until his LBC show on Saturday, which begins at 10am. |
| Updated | Updated |
| at 9.36am BST | at 9.36am BST |