Britain’s Labour Party has suspended former London Mayor Ken Livingstone over anti-semitic remarks he made Thursday that prompted swift backlash from the public and members of Parliament.
Livingstone will be investigated for “bringing the party into disrepute,” after he tried to defend Labour MP Naz Shah, who had been suspended for comments she wrote about Israel online, the BBC reports.
“Let’s remember, when Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel,” Livingstone said during a BBC Radio interview. “He was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews.”
Labour MP John Mann publicly confronted Livingstone about his remarks, and himself received a reprimand from the party for airing his grievances so publicly.
You're a "Nazi apologist," @UKLabour MP John Mann confronts Ken Livingstone https://t.co/yXm6mkBkIC https://t.co/TCJsDmcGVb
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 28, 2016
Afterward Livingstone said he hadn’t meant that Hitler was a Zionist, and had just been citing “facts,” the BBC reports. The Adjudication Panel for England suspended Livingstone from his mayoral office in 2006 for comments he made comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard. A judge later overturned the decision.
Along with Mann, many MPs spoke out against Livingstone on social media Thursday:
Ken Livingstone's comments are appalling. No place for anti-Semitism in the Labour Party or society. He should be suspended immediately.
— Dan Jarvis (@DanJarvisMP) April 28, 2016
Ken Livingstone must be suspended for this. He must actively be seeking suspension and notoriety with these remarks. https://t.co/jHiGGYBK7s
— John Woodcock (@JWoodcockMP) April 28, 2016
Ken Livingstone has form on antisemitism and has been tolerated for far too long. He should be suspended immediately.
— Wes Streeting MP (@wesstreeting) April 28, 2016
I've given Ken Livingstone a fool's pardon in recent months. But his comments on anti-semitism are appalling. We can't allow this to go on.
— Conor McGinn MP (@ConorMcGinn) April 28, 2016
[BBC]