Isaac Herzog says UK situation is a ‘red alert’

The leader of Israel’s Labour party said the string of events were a “red alert” and called for action to be taken.

Isaac Herzog told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One: “It’s a red alert that comes from within the body politic of the British Labour Party.

“It doesn’t symbolise the majority of the British Labour Party. However, this collection of recent events in a short time span show it has to be treated and I would focus not only on the political side but also on educating, explaining the issues at stake before people say such horrific things.”

His comments come after the former London mayor was suspended over comments branded “vile, offensive and crass” by the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, who said Mr Livingstone had “let down the Labour Party”.

But Mr Livingstone, who faces calls to be expelled over his remarks, claimed that the party’s internal inquiry would have to let him back in because “it’s hard for somebody to decide to suspend me from the party” when he had been making the same point for 30 years.

The former MP, an ally of party leader Jeremy Corbyn, sparked fury among colleagues by claiming that Hitler had supported Zionism “before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.

Mr Livingstone was unrepentant despite his suspension, saying: “How can the truth be an offence? If I had lied that would be offensive.”