Livingstone Suspended Over Hitler Comments

Ken Livingstone has been suspended by Labour for bringing the party into disrepute after saying Adolf Hitler supported Zionism.

Mr Livingstone made his comments when he defended suspended Labour MP Naz Shah over social media comments she posted suggesting Israel should be relocated to the US and claiming everything Hitler did was legal.

He said Ms Shah's Facebook posts were not "anti-Semitic" and he claimed there was a "well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticised Israeli policy as anti-Semitic".

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn had come under increasing pressure to take action against his close ally over Mr Livingstone's comments with more than 20 Labour MPs calling for him to go.

The party will now carry out an investigation into the former London mayor's conduct.

:: Naz Shah Suspended For Anti-Semitic Facebook Posts

In furious scenes, Labour MP John Mann confronted Mr Livingstone in Westminster on Thursday morning and shouted at him that he was a "******* disgrace" and a "Nazi apologist".

The party's chief whip Rosie Winterton later told Mr Mann it was "completely inappropriate" to be involved in public rows on television.

The decision to haul him in for a dressing down had sparked anger from Labour MPs who said Mr Mann had been "standing up for decency".

Some claimed the action against Mr Mann was a sop to the hard Left for taking action against Mr Livingstone.

The MP had told Sky News that Mr Livingstone's comments that Hitler had supported Zionism - the establishment of a Jewish homeland - were "insane", branded him an "anti-Semite" and said the Labour veteran had "gone totally mad".

Mr Mann said it was clear Labour did have a problem with anti-Semitism and that Mr Livingstone, who is co-chairman of Labour's defence policy commission, was part of it.

In his interview with the BBC on Thursday morning, Mr Livingstone said: "Let's remember when Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism.

"This is before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews."

:: Local Labour Vice Chair Suspended For Anti-Semitic Comments

He said that in all his time as a Labour member he had never heard anyone say anything anti-Semitic and suggested the "Israel lobby" had orchestrated a campaign to smear people.

More than 20 MPs, including the London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan and shadow cabinet member Luciana Berger, joined calls for him to be removed from the party, intensifying the anti-Semitic crisis that has engulfed the party.

In 2005 Mr Livingstone was embroiled in an anti-Semitism row after asking Jewish reporter Oliver Finegold if he was a "German war criminal" and telling him: "You are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren't you?"

Speaking to Sky's Kay Burley, Mr Livingstone said he had not heard about his suspension or the investigation into his conduct and was out doing some shopping.

Ms Shah apologised for her anti-Semitic comments in the House of Commons on Wednesday and was suspended after David Cameron said it was "extraordinary" that action had not been taken against her.

Mr Corbyn has been roundly criticised for not taking firm enough action to tackle anti-Semitism in the party and for failing to take action earlier.

:: Corbyn Urged To Tackle Anti-Semitism

Speaking on Thursday, the Prime Minister said: "It is quite clear that the Labour Party has got a problem with anti-Semitism.

"I think they have got to recognise that anti-Semitism is like racism, it is unacceptable in a modern political party and every political party facing this problem has got to deal with it."

Speaking to Sky News ahead of news of Mr Livingstone's suspension, Lord Sugar said: "Corbyn has got nowhere to go on this now. He is one of his close allies within the party, from their political beliefs, but he has got to get rid of this man in the same way Naz Shah was suspended yesterday."

He added that "the lunatics have taken over the party" and said: "There is an underlying feeling now under (Corbyn's) regime that anti-Semitism is starting to rise in the Labour Party, although he denies it."