Judgement day for Ken Livingstone over ‘Hitler backed Zionism’ claim

Ken Livingstone’s future in the Labour Party will be decided as he finds out whether he faces disciplinary action over comments about Adolf Hitler.

A hearing into veteran left-winger Livingstone’s conduct will resume on Tuesday afternoon, where party bosses will decide whether he is being expelled over his controversial claim that the Nazi leader supported the creation of a Jewish state.

The former London mayor – who has been suspended since April last year – is facing a charge that he engaged in conduct which was “grossly detrimental” to the party.

It followed a radio interview in which he claimed that Hitler had supported Zionism in the 1930s before he ”went mad and ended up killing six million Jews”.

His case is being decided on by Labour’s national constitution committee, which heard two days of evidence behind closed doors before adjourning on Friday.

Livingstone has previously said the process was fair and he was hopeful about its outcome.

He said: “I’m always hopeful. It’s pretty fair. The injustice was actually suspending me for something I hadn’t said.

“Have I said anything that wasn’t true? All the Jewish activists who spoke on my behalf yesterday, all actually confirmed what I said was true.

“The big difference is that, though I said that Hitler supported Zionism, MPs like John Mann were immediately claiming that I said Hitler was a Zionist.

“That was repeated on the Jewish Chronicle website with appalling other stories saying that I said Jews were like Nazis, none of this is true.

“So, as long as the truth prevails, we will be OK.”