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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/may/21/ken-livingstone-quits-labour-after-antisemitism-claims
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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Ken Livingstone quits Labour after antisemitism claims | Ken Livingstone quits Labour after antisemitism claims |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ken Livingstone has announced that he is resigning from the Labour party, saying the issues around his suspension for alleged antisemitism had become a distraction. | Ken Livingstone has announced that he is resigning from the Labour party, saying the issues around his suspension for alleged antisemitism had become a distraction. |
| The former mayor of London and Labour MP said he was leaving the party he first joined 50 years ago with “great sadness” but would continue to work to help bring about a government led by Jeremy Corbyn. | |
| In a statement on Twitter, he said: “After much consideration, I have decided to resign from the Labour party. We desperately need a Corbyn-led government to transform Britain and I’ll continue to work to this end.” | In a statement on Twitter, he said: “After much consideration, I have decided to resign from the Labour party. We desperately need a Corbyn-led government to transform Britain and I’ll continue to work to this end.” |
| He added: “The ongoing issues around my suspension from the Labour party have become a distraction from the key political issue of our time – which is to replace a Tory government overseeing falling living standards and spiralling poverty, while starving our schools and the NHS of the vital resources they need.” | |
| Livingstone, 72, has been suspended since 2016 in a row over antisemitism that erupted after comments he made about Adolf Hitler supporting Zionism, but a new Labour party disciplinary process was due to begin this week. | |
| Pressure on him mounted after Shami Chakrabarti, who authored a report dealing with antisemitism and racism in the party, hinted that she might quit the Labour frontbench if he was not expelled from the party at his next disciplinary hearing. | |
| The shadow attorney said she did not believe there were circumstances where the party’s disciplinary panel could decide not to expel Livingstone. | |
| Livingstone said he was quitting after his lawyers advised him that if he lost his case and was expelled, it would take at least two years before any legal challenge was resolved. | |
| However, while he apologised for his controversial remarks which offended many in the Jewish community, he denied that he was guilty of antisemitism. | |
| “I do not accept the allegation that I have brought the Labour party into disrepute – nor that I am in any way guilty of antisemitism. I abhor antisemitism, I have fought it all my life and will continue to do so,” he said. | |
| “I also recognise that the way I made a historical argument has caused offence and upset in the Jewish community. I am truly sorry for that.” | “I also recognise that the way I made a historical argument has caused offence and upset in the Jewish community. I am truly sorry for that.” |
| Please RT to help counter media misrepresentation ↓After much consideration, I have decided to resign from Labour. We desperately need a Corbyn-led government to transform Britain & I'll continue to work to this end.You can read my statement at https://t.co/GDDSp8Q0qN#JC4PM pic.twitter.com/qpDwnxDfcs | Please RT to help counter media misrepresentation ↓After much consideration, I have decided to resign from Labour. We desperately need a Corbyn-led government to transform Britain & I'll continue to work to this end.You can read my statement at https://t.co/GDDSp8Q0qN#JC4PM pic.twitter.com/qpDwnxDfcs |
| Livingstone told the Guardian that he had made the decision to leave the party himself, and had not been pushed out by the party leadership. He said it meant he would now be able to campaign at elections for Corbyn which he had not been able to do while suspended. | |
| The Labour leader said: “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.” | |
| Livingstone was expelled from Labour in 2000 after challenging the party’s official candidate in the mayoral election race, but later returned. | |
| Livingstone said he was convinced that the party, which has been accused of dragging its heels over tackling antisemitism within its ranks, would now take “rapid action” to expel anybody who genuinely had antisemitic views. | |
| He suggested that the problem in the party was not as widespread as had been reported, although he acknowledged that the huge influx of new members under Corbyn may have been problematic. | |
| “I literally have never come across anyone saying or doing anything antisemitic in the Labour party,” he added. | |
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