Ken Livingstone confronted by John Mann: Moment former mayor is branded a 'Nazi apologist'

Laura Proto29 April 2016
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has been confronted by an angry Labour MP in an anti-semitism row.

John Mann, MP for Bassetlaw, confronted Mr Livingstone while he was on a telephone interview with LBC radio after the former mayor had said Adolf Hitler had originally supported Zionism by supporting moving Jewish people to Israel.

In a video uploaded to Twitter by BBC political correspondent Vicki Young, Mr Mann can be seen calling Mr Livingstone a "Nazi apologist" along with accusing him of "rewriting history".

The Moment John Mann came face to face with Ken Livingstone

Mr Mann urges Mr Livingstone to go back and "check what Hitler did" before telling the former mayor: "You've lost it mate, you need help."

He continues to berate Mr Livingstone and says his comments were "factually wrong racist remarks".

Meanwhile, LBC presenter James O'Brien is on the phone to the former Mayor of London.

After first being approached by Mr Mann, Mr Livingstone tells the presenter: "I've got a violent MP threatening me."

As the line in the LBC studio goes quiet, Mr O'Brien tells listeners: "I'm going to stay with this just to make sure Ken is alright."

The argument between the Labour MP and the former Mayor of London can then be heard on a muffled line.

Earlier today, Mr Livingstone told BBC Radio London he had never heard anyone in the party say anything anti-Semitic, before adding: “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 six million Jews.

“There has been a very well-orchestrated campaign by the Israel lobby to smear anybody who criticises Israeli policy as anti-Semitic."

The comments led to Labour’s current mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan calling for him to be kicked out of the party.

Mr Khan tweeted: “Ken Livingstone’s comments are appalling and inexcusable. There must be no place for this in our party.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in