Follow the latest developments after former London mayor is suspended over offensive Hitler and Zionism comments
3.05pm BST
The Welsh Labour leader, Carwyn Jones has rejected claims that he “banned” Jeremy Corbyn from joining him on the assembly election campaign trail.
The idea of a UK Labour leader not joining a campaign in one of the party’s traditional strongholds would have once been inconceivable.
The decision [for the visit to be cancelled] was taken yesterday. There’s no question of me having banned him from Wales. I don’t have the power to do that, of course.
Yesterday we saw what happened with Ken Livingstone. We knew that if he came today the day would be entirely about Ken Livingstone and we’re here to spend a day talking about the Welsh election on Thursday.
Enough’s enough. How many times is he going to do this? He knew exactly what he was doing yesterday. This is not somebody who is inexperienced. It was deliberate.
No – he lives in the London bubble, [he] wouldn’t have thought about the elections elsewhere.
On the doorstep it’s fair to say we get mixed views. Fewer people are raising him as an issue and the reaction is more mixed. Some months ago the reaction was more negative. Not now – it’s much more balanced.
2.57pm BST
Jamie Reed, the Labour MP for Copeland, has written an emotional blog for centrist Labour pressure group Progress.
The Labour party can, and at some point will, become a national movement again. Doing so will require the abandonment of both exceptionalism and the corruption of language.
Nowhere can these destructive practices be seen more clearly than through the events leading up to and following the suspension of Naz Shah MP from the Labour benches this week.
2.44pm BST
The leader of Labour’s sister party in Israel has said his party was on “red alert” over the number of incidents plaguing UK Labour.
It’s a red alert that comes from within the body politic of the British Labour Party.
However, this collection of recent events in a short time span show it has to be treated and I would focus not only on the political side but also on educating, explaining the issues at stake before people say such horrific things.
2.27pm BST
Conor Pope, senior reporter at Labour List, points out Livingstone is now in his third day of causing chaos for Labour.
That puts us in a position where, logically, the only way his membership can be reinstated is if the Labour Party endorses his comments.
2.26pm BST
More here from Livingstone’s latest interview with Sky News.
How can the truth be an offence? If I had lied that would be offensive
I suspect most of the pro-Israel Labour MPs have no idea about the history, they certainly don’t teach about 1930s Zionist policy in Israeli schools … almost everyone in the Jewish community grows up in complete ignorance of this.
Over here, they don’t teach it in schools either.
He came to Britain to publicise his book and we did a public meeting together.
The shocking thing about his book was that he revealed that not only Hitler had wanted to move all of Germany’s Jews to Israel, but that the Zionist leadership continued a dialogue privately with Hitler from ‘33 when he became Chancellor from 1940-41.
Political leaders need to suck up to nasty people all the time, I mean David Cameron has to suck up to the Saudi royal family all the time, as Blair did. They are an abhorrent regime.
2.21pm BST
The New Statesman’s George Eaton has this from Labour MPs mulling whether a leadership challenge to Corbyn is now more probable.
Labour MPs on why a leadership challenge to Corbyn has become more likely https://t.co/21aB8mqeOq pic.twitter.com/8a5elwmh1o
1.49pm BST
Everything I said yesterday was true and I will be presenting the academic book about that to the Labour Party inquiry.
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.
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.
1.46pm BST
Welsh leader Carwyn Jones has said there probably won’t be time now for Corbyn to join him on campaign trail before Election Day.
Welsh Labour had previously said they were attempting to reschedule the visit that was cancelled for fear of a media storm that might detract from their Welsh Assembly election campaigning.
Welsh first minister Carwyn Jones on election trail - but no Jeremy Corbyn. pic.twitter.com/TExFKSMt4i
1.45pm BST
Welsh Labour members received this message this afternoon on Corbyn’s visit cancellation, signed by Welsh Labour leader and First Minister Carwyn Jones, denying he had prevented Corbyn’s visit.
You may have seen some reports today about Jeremy Corbyn’s planned visit to Wales being cancelled. Whilst that is the case, it is not right to say there is a ‘bar’ on Jeremy coming to Wales. His office have said as much this morning.
There are incredibly serious issues for Jeremy to deal with in Westminster, and it is right and in the interests of the UK Party that he stays there today and sorts this out. I give him my support in getting to grips with that today and commend him on the action he took yesterday.
1.22pm BST
Jeremy Corbyn is not feeling particularly talkative this morning.
Jeremy Corbyn has no comment when asked what he intends to do about accusations of anti-Semitism in the Labour Party https://t.co/guqNXzPTpt
1.22pm BST
The Guardian’s political editor Anushka Asthana was on the campaign trail with Jeremy Corbyn in Grimsby and Hull as the chaos unfolded yesterday afternoon. Here’s the video of the day, which started with fans clamouring for selfies and ends as Corbyn suspends Livingstone saying he will not tolerate anti-Semitism.
1.11pm BST
Ken Livingstone has told Sky News he would tell the Labour inquiry that he has been making the connection between Adolf Hitler and Zionism for 30 years, since he first read a book on the link.
Livingstone, who earlier said he would not make any comment until tomorrow but has since spoken to both the Evening Standard and now Sky News, repeated his claim that it was accurate to say Hitler had been a Zionist.
EXC Interview with Ken Livingstone online soon: says party inquiry has to let him back in bcos he first made his Hitler claims 30 years ago
EXC Livingstone: 'I suspect most pro-Israel MPs have no idea about the history. They don't teach 1930s Zionist policy in Israeli schools'
12.43pm BST
LBC has said that Ken Livingstone is not due to be presenting his usual slot on Saturday, telling the Guardian that is down to Ofcom broadcasting rules in place for the duration of the European referendum.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy, the Channel 4 News presenter, has questioned whether Ken Livingstone should continued to be paid to act as a presenter by national talk radio station LBC following the comments which have led to his suspension by the Labour Party.
Livingstone says no more on Hitler until his radio show. Is LBC entirely comfortable paying him as a presenter after what he said yesterday?
12.34pm BST
This is the front page story of the Western Mail, which suggests Jeremy Corbyn has cancelled campaigning in Wales after advice from Labour Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, though there is some dispute as to whether Corbyn is merely rescheduling his visit rather than being told to stay away altogether.
Friday's Western Mail front page:
Carwyn bars Corbyn#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers pic.twitter.com/JOUgUSz9zC
11.58am BST
Labour MP Jess Phillips has written on the Guardian’s Comment is Free about why Labout must permanently expel Livingstone.
Ken Livingstone appears incapable of contrition. That is why he must be thrown out of the Labour party. He is so certain he is right about everything, he won’t come close to change. He has got away with it again and again, bolstering his confidence each time.
He has a well-worn flak jacket leading him to be a repeat offender, leaving almost no one unharmed by his shrapnel. Jewish people, decent members of the Labour party, the mentally ill, mild-mannered people from south London all bear the wounds.
Related: Ken Livingstone must be thrown out of Labour. He’s had his last second chance | Jess Phillips
11.51am BST
The Evening Standard’s Joe Murphy has spoken briefly to Ken Livingstone this morning, who says he will stand by his comments.
Everything I said yesterday was true and I will be presenting the academic book about that to the Labour Party inquiry.
11.38am BST
While Farage has been speaking, Ken Livingstone is still insisting that he will not speak until his LBC show, telling reporters to phone in to the show if they want to ask him questions. There are some reports now however, that Livingstone is not due to present the show tomorrow because of Ofcom rules about partisanship close to elections. We’re trying to get confirmation.
Ken Livingstone takes Coco for a walk. No comment on his suspension, but said he'd be tending to his newts today pic.twitter.com/yKvNTf8cqs
Taking Coco for a walk, then I’m coming back to do the washing, then I’m moving the newts and pond weed from my old to my new pond.
I need to move the newts and the old pond is past its sell-by date.
11.10am BST
Though the speech was focussed on Europe and security, as well as deep dig at the strategy of his rivals, Farage didn’t miss the opportunity to take aim at Labour’s problems.
"No longer are we the party accused of harbouring extremists," Farage says with a wry smile. pic.twitter.com/nUJfoJFYxz
11.07am BST
Farage says that German chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to let in refugees last summer was “one of the worst decisions by a western leader since 1945”
He says the UK could risk being in a “Turkish-dominated Europe” because of ongoing negotiations with the country regarding potential accession.
'@Nigel_Farage "We have to make people understand that this is about taking back control of our borders, our laws and our country"
11.03am BST
Ukip will keep speaking out, even if they are not part of the Vote Leave campaign, he says.
For background, Vote Leave won the electoral commission designation to be the lead campaign, which comes with significant extra spending limits and rights, over the Leave.EU-backed group Grassroots Out, supported by Farage and most of Ukip.
Privately educated former city trader @Nigel_Farage attacking ppl from 'privileged and wealthy backgrounds'. Well I suppose he knows them.
11.00am BST
The Leave campaign has to “get into the other half of the pitch”, Farage says. Migration is the key argument to make he says, and the security and terror threat.
Vote Leave, the official designated campaign, are not making that case, he says.
They don’t appear to have the credible voices to make those arguments. I
If you’ve been part of the cabinet that has seen net migration running at record levels, you’re not best placed to make those arguments.
10.56am BST
Farage says the UK will be better off outside the single market, saying food, cars will all be cheaper.
Even if there is no deal with the EU, he says, “the worst case scenario” the total amount of tariffs only equals two-thirds of the UK contribution to the EU.
10.53am BST
Nigel Farage, the UKIP leader is giving a keynote speech for the Leave campaign today at the Emmanuel Centre in London.
He says Barack Obama would not have used the word ‘queue’ to say Britain would be at the back of the queue for trade negotiations because Americans say line. He says he was saying the words David Cameron had asked him to say.
10.44am BST
Wes Streeting, the Labour MP who was one of the first to call for Livingstone to be sacked from the party, spoke to BBC Newsnight.
He called the ex-mayor “a political arsonist who is pouring petrol on a very serious issue.”
"A political arsonist" - @wesstreeting's perfect description of Ken Livingstone pic.twitter.com/bKGZaz89Sw
10.29am BST
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.
Welcome statement from Jewish Labour Movement (via @juliamacfarlane). Agree with this https://t.co/N6BzAibEwe pic.twitter.com/vFS69JTxSc
10.13am BST
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
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.
10.08am BST
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
9.34am BST
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:
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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