Former London mayor suspended from party over Hitler remarks

LONDON — Former London mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended Thursday from the opposition Labour Party over comments he made about Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

Several members of Parliament called for Livingstone to be suspended or expelled from the center-left party over his remarks in support of Naz Shah, a Labour member of Parliament who was suspended over Facebook posts she made about Israel before she was elected last year.

In one 2014 post, Shah shared an image that showed Israel superimposed on a map of the United States with the words, “Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict — Relocate Israel into United States”, accompanied by the comment: “Problem solved.” Shah has apologized.

Livingstone, a far-left ally of party leader Jeremy Corbyn who sits on Labour's National Executive Council, defended Shah in an interview with BBC radio Thursday and said he had never heard any anti-Semitic remarks from any party members.

He added: "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 before he went mad and ended up killing 6 million Jews."

His remarks prompted Labour member of Parliament John Mann to call Livingstone "a disgusting Nazi apologist."

Livingstone told the BBC that Hitler was "a monster from start to finish," but he said he was quoting historical "facts" and that he was not suggesting Hitler was a Zionist.

The Labour Party said Livingstone will be investigated, and that a senior official had summoned Mann to discuss his conduct.

Party leader Corbyn said suspending people for offensive comments was about “sending a message,” the Guardian reported.

“There were grave concerns about the language he’d used. We had a discussion about it and decided we would suspend him and he would go through an investigation by the party,” Corbyn said.

Sadiq Khan, a Labour candidate in the May 5 London mayoral election, tweeted: "Ken Livingstone's comments are appalling and inexcusable. There must be no place for this in our Party."

Jonathan Arkush, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, which represents Jewish interests to the government and various organizations, called for Livingstone to be expelled from the party.

“Ken Livingstone’s comments were abhorrent and beyond disgraceful. His latest comments combine Holocaust revisionism with antisemitism denial, when the evidence is there for all to see," he said in a statement.

Livingstone served two terms as mayor of London between 2000 and 2008 when he lost to the Conservative Party’s Boris Johnson in elections.