Partridge
02-24-2006, 03:39 PM
Livingstone suspended over 'Nazi' jibe
Guardian (http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1717218,00.html)
Ken Livingstone was today suspended from office for four weeks by a disciplinary tribunal for likening a Jewish Evening Standard reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard.The three-man Adjudication Panel for England said the mayor of London should step down from his duties on March 1.
In deciding on a suspension, the panel rejected the alternative sanctions of a censure or an order for Mr Livingstone to undergo training.
The panel's chairman, David Laverick, said it would not have been appropriate to have disqualified Mr Livingstone from office.
"The case tribunal is, however, concerned that the mayor does seem to have failed from the outset of this case to have appreciated that his conduct was unacceptable, a breach of the code and did damage to the reputation of his office," Mr Laverick said.
"His representative was quite right in saying that matters should not have got as far as this, but it is the mayor who must take responsibility for that.
"It was his comments that started the matter and thereafter his position seems to have become ever more entrenched.
"The case tribunal considers that the appropriate sanction is for the mayor to be suspended for a period of four weeks from March 1."
Mr Livingstone is entitled to appeal against the ruling by making an application to the high court.
In a statement, he said: "This decision strikes at the heart of democracy. Elected politicians should only be able to be removed by the voters or for breaking the law.
"Three members of a body that no one has ever elected should not be allowed to overturn the votes of millions of Londoners.
"I have been advised that the decision of this tribunal today may be open to challenge. I will meet with my legal representatives early next week and will then make a statement about whether I will be exercising my right of challenge."
The panel ruled that the mayor had breached the Greater London authority's code and damaged the reputation of his office as a result of his exchange with the reporter, Oliver Finegold.
It branded his treatment of the journalist, whom the mayor compared to a concentration camp guard after being told that he was Jewish, as "unnecessarily insensitive and offensive".
Commenting on the ruling, the Evening Standard editor, Veronica Wadley, said: "The Evening Standard has always believed that Mr Livingstone should apologise for his remarks.
"There is no question that he caused offence to many Londoners by his comments, and his stubborn refusal to say sorry aggravated the position.
"Mr Livingstone not only offended London's Jewish community but then he did not show the stature expected of the mayor of London by apologising. As the Standards Board found, our reporter questioned Mr Livingstone in a 'civil tone'.
"Oliver Finegold behaved impeccably and was polite at all times as he questioned Mr Livingstone when he left a civic party. As the tape recording shows, Oliver Finegold did not swear at the mayor, or was in any way hostile.
"The complaint to the Standards Board was brought by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, not the Evening Standard.
"This paper has not always seen eye to eye with Mr Livingstone but we have applauded his work in helping to unite London after 7/7.
"We believe, though, that it is only right that the adjudication panel has now decided that Mr Livingstone acted in a manner that was ill-fitting for the mayor of this great city. Mr Livingstone should now apologise to those he offended."
Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "It is unfortunate that it had to come to this. Certainly for Holocaust survivors that we work with on a day-to-day basis for them this was very upsetting. They found it a rather painful way to express an opinion.
"They wanted an apology. People in positions of responsibility and power have to be particularly sensitive in terms of the language they use. No one wanted it to escalate or lead to this process."
Mr Livingstone, who was due to spearhead Labour's campaign in the London borough elections in May, was quickly condemned by his Conservative opponents in the London assembly.
Brian Coleman, the deputy chair of the assembly, said he should "hang his head in shame" for failing to apologise and avoid the situation.
"He's now got a month to sit at home in Cricklewood in his front room and ponder the damage he's done to London, the damage he's done to the office and, most importantly, the damage he's done to community relations," he said.
However, Jenny Jones, a Green party London assembly member and a former deputy mayor of London, echoed Mr Livingstone's criticism of the penalty.
"I am outraged that this system allows three undemocratically appointed individuals to suspend a man who was elected by the vote of millions of Londoners. There is no criminal charge or corruption here and this is an example of hysterical over-reaction," she said.
Baroness Hamwee, Liberal Democrat chair of the assembly, said she was "quite taken aback" by the length of the suspension. But she added: "It ought not have come before the standards board because Mr Livingstone should have said sorry, not just to the reporter and the photographer but to London's community because community cohesion is a very big issue for London."
Mr Livingstone will make his last public appearance before his suspension on LBC's People's Question Time, to be broadcast next Wednesday evening.
Guardian (http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,1717218,00.html)
Ken Livingstone was today suspended from office for four weeks by a disciplinary tribunal for likening a Jewish Evening Standard reporter to a Nazi concentration camp guard.The three-man Adjudication Panel for England said the mayor of London should step down from his duties on March 1.
In deciding on a suspension, the panel rejected the alternative sanctions of a censure or an order for Mr Livingstone to undergo training.
The panel's chairman, David Laverick, said it would not have been appropriate to have disqualified Mr Livingstone from office.
"The case tribunal is, however, concerned that the mayor does seem to have failed from the outset of this case to have appreciated that his conduct was unacceptable, a breach of the code and did damage to the reputation of his office," Mr Laverick said.
"His representative was quite right in saying that matters should not have got as far as this, but it is the mayor who must take responsibility for that.
"It was his comments that started the matter and thereafter his position seems to have become ever more entrenched.
"The case tribunal considers that the appropriate sanction is for the mayor to be suspended for a period of four weeks from March 1."
Mr Livingstone is entitled to appeal against the ruling by making an application to the high court.
In a statement, he said: "This decision strikes at the heart of democracy. Elected politicians should only be able to be removed by the voters or for breaking the law.
"Three members of a body that no one has ever elected should not be allowed to overturn the votes of millions of Londoners.
"I have been advised that the decision of this tribunal today may be open to challenge. I will meet with my legal representatives early next week and will then make a statement about whether I will be exercising my right of challenge."
The panel ruled that the mayor had breached the Greater London authority's code and damaged the reputation of his office as a result of his exchange with the reporter, Oliver Finegold.
It branded his treatment of the journalist, whom the mayor compared to a concentration camp guard after being told that he was Jewish, as "unnecessarily insensitive and offensive".
Commenting on the ruling, the Evening Standard editor, Veronica Wadley, said: "The Evening Standard has always believed that Mr Livingstone should apologise for his remarks.
"There is no question that he caused offence to many Londoners by his comments, and his stubborn refusal to say sorry aggravated the position.
"Mr Livingstone not only offended London's Jewish community but then he did not show the stature expected of the mayor of London by apologising. As the Standards Board found, our reporter questioned Mr Livingstone in a 'civil tone'.
"Oliver Finegold behaved impeccably and was polite at all times as he questioned Mr Livingstone when he left a civic party. As the tape recording shows, Oliver Finegold did not swear at the mayor, or was in any way hostile.
"The complaint to the Standards Board was brought by the Board of Deputies of British Jews, not the Evening Standard.
"This paper has not always seen eye to eye with Mr Livingstone but we have applauded his work in helping to unite London after 7/7.
"We believe, though, that it is only right that the adjudication panel has now decided that Mr Livingstone acted in a manner that was ill-fitting for the mayor of this great city. Mr Livingstone should now apologise to those he offended."
Karen Pollock, the chief executive of the Holocaust Educational Trust, said: "It is unfortunate that it had to come to this. Certainly for Holocaust survivors that we work with on a day-to-day basis for them this was very upsetting. They found it a rather painful way to express an opinion.
"They wanted an apology. People in positions of responsibility and power have to be particularly sensitive in terms of the language they use. No one wanted it to escalate or lead to this process."
Mr Livingstone, who was due to spearhead Labour's campaign in the London borough elections in May, was quickly condemned by his Conservative opponents in the London assembly.
Brian Coleman, the deputy chair of the assembly, said he should "hang his head in shame" for failing to apologise and avoid the situation.
"He's now got a month to sit at home in Cricklewood in his front room and ponder the damage he's done to London, the damage he's done to the office and, most importantly, the damage he's done to community relations," he said.
However, Jenny Jones, a Green party London assembly member and a former deputy mayor of London, echoed Mr Livingstone's criticism of the penalty.
"I am outraged that this system allows three undemocratically appointed individuals to suspend a man who was elected by the vote of millions of Londoners. There is no criminal charge or corruption here and this is an example of hysterical over-reaction," she said.
Baroness Hamwee, Liberal Democrat chair of the assembly, said she was "quite taken aback" by the length of the suspension. But she added: "It ought not have come before the standards board because Mr Livingstone should have said sorry, not just to the reporter and the photographer but to London's community because community cohesion is a very big issue for London."
Mr Livingstone will make his last public appearance before his suspension on LBC's People's Question Time, to be broadcast next Wednesday evening.