Ken Livingstone ends up discussing Hitler on TV again after trying to defend Keith Vaz
KEN LIVINGSTONE has used an interview about Keith Vaz’s male escort scandal to defend his own anti-Semitic remarks on television.
Ken Livingstone talks about his suspension over 'Anti-semitism'
The former mayor of London was defending Mr Vaz – who has resigned as chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee after he was alleged to have paid for the services of two male sex workers.
Mr Vaz stood down from his position this afternoon after meeting his colleagues in the Home Affairs Select Commitee in the wake of the revelations.
The senior Labour backbencher allegedly met two eastern European male prostitutes and boasting about having unprotected sex, according to the Sunday Mirror.
It was alleged the married father of two met the men at his north London flat on August 27, referred to himself as “Jim” and said he was a washing machine salesman.
They keep putting it off because the simple fact that is I’ve got so much evidence
Mr Livingstone was embroiled in his own controversy after he was suspended from the Labour Party in April for claiming Adolf Hitler supported Zionism before he went “mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.
While being interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire on BBC over Mr Vaz's situation, the former Mayor of London sought to once again defend his anti-Semitic comments.
He said: “It’s now four months since I was suspended, I’m still waiting for the committee to sit down and discuss whether what I said was true or not.
“I think they keep putting it off because the simple fact that is I’ve got so much evidence that says what I’m saying is true.
“What is particularly striking is if you go to the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, one of the pamphlets they sell to tourists is about the deal that Hitler did with the Zionists in the 1930s.
“I don’t think anyone is going to accuse the Holocaust memorial management of being anti-Semitic.”
He went on: “If I had said Hitler was a Zionist, I wouldn’t just have apologised but I would have gone straight to my doctor to check that I wasn’t in the first stages of dementia.
“To suggest that Hitler was a Zionist is mad.
"He loathed and feared Jews all his life but he did do a deal with the Zionist movement in the 1930s.”
Earlier on Tuesday Mr Livingstone told BBC Radio: "I got suspended I couldn’t walk down the street for people stopping me and saying ‘we know what you said is true – don’t give in to them’.
"It’s going to be very difficult for them to expel me from the Labour party when I’ve got this whole sheaf of documents and papers which shows that what I said was true."
Following his comments last April, Mr Livingstone was branded a "Nazi apologist" by Labour MP John Mann.
Discussing Mr Vaz, the veteran politician added: "In all that time, I never recalled him talking anything sex or anything like that or drugs. He was always focused on what he could do to make life better for constituents and the wider community."