Former London mayor Ken Livingstone announces his resignation from UK’s Labour, saying allegations of anti-Semitism against him are distracting from the party’s efforts to replace the Conservative government.
“I do not accept the allegation that I have brought the Labour Party into disrepute — nor that I am in any way guilty of anti-Semitism. I abhor anti-Semitism, I have fought it all my life and will continue to do so,” he says in a statement.
“I also recognize that the way I made a historical argument has caused offense and upset in the Jewish community. I am truly sorry for that,” Livingstone adds.
Livingstone has made a number of comments criticized as anti-Semitic, including saying in 2016 that Adolf Hitler supported Zionism “before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews,” a claim he was suspended from the party for.
Under Jeremy Corbyn, who became Labour’s leader in 2015, the party has been rocked by allegations of anti-Semitism in its ranks, with UK Jewish groups criticizing him for not sufficiently addressing the problem.
Ken Livingstone appears on Iran’s Press TV on International Holocaust Remembrance Day, January 27, 2018. (Screen capture: YouTube)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Monday, May 21, 2018
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
