Ken Livingstone suspended indefinitely by Labour over anti-Semitism claims
KEN Livingstone has been “indefinitely" suspended from Labour pending new investigations into alleged anti-Semitic comments he had made.
Ken Livingstone's comments included claiming that Adolf Hitler was a zionist
The move was made because the former London's mayor's suspension for past anti-Semitic comments, including a claim that Hitler was a Zionist, was due to come to an end on 27 April.
But today critics accused Labour of again turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism by failing to condemn Mr Livingstone properly and expel him from the party.
The latest outrages from the man dubbed Red Ken came in January on Holocaust memorial day where he claimed the Nazi atrocities which led to the mass murder of 6 million Jews had been “exploited" to “oppress others".
He also repeated the claim that Hitler was a Zionist which had led to his original suspension.
It had been suggested that Jeremy Corbyn had been preparing to allow the controversial hard Left politician back into the party.
The decision was made before the former London Mayor's current suspension came to an end in April
Labour are simply kicking it down the road and burying their heads in the sand
But outgoing general secretary Iain McNicol invoked a rarely used power for “administrative indefinite suspension" for Mr Livingstone as his last act before he was effectively forced out.
Helen Grant MP, Conservative Vice Chairman for Communities, said: “The ‘indefinite' suspension of Ken Livingstone from Labour shows once again how they are prepared to turn a blind eye to abuse and antisemitism within their party.
“Instead of facing up to the facts and properly condemning the abhorrent and deeply offensive views of Ken Livingstone, Labour are simply kicking it down the road and burying their heads in the sand.
“Jeremy Corbyn promised a kinder, gentler politics – it's time he backed up his words with actions."
Ken Livingstone denies Labour's anti-Semitism problem
The party has been riddled with claims of anti-Semitism among the core far Left supporters of Mr Corbyn.
In 2016 Mr Corbyn asked Shami Chakrabarti to hold an inquiry where she concluded there was not an anti-Semitism problem in Labour shortly before she was given a place in the Lords and on Labour's front bench team by the Labour leader.
A Labour spokeswoman said: "Ken Livingstone has been administratively suspended from the Labour Party, pending the outcome of an internal party investigation.
"That suspension starts on the date that his membership suspension applied by the National Constitutional Committee ends on 27 April 2018."