Livingstone under fire over Iranian TV links

By Mark Ferguson / @markfergusonuk

Ken Livingstone is under fire from the Evening Standard tonight, with the paper suggesting that Livingstone has earned thousands of pounds for presenting work on Iranian state sponsored broadcaster Press TV. The Standard says:

“Ken Livingstone was today accused of showing “a lack of judgment” after it emerged he has been paid thousands of pounds to front a programme on Iranian state television. He has presented seven shows on the English-language Press TV channel, three of which have been broadcast since he became Labour’s London mayoral candidate in September. The government-funded international news network was launched by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2007 and is run by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting.”

What is perhaps most unusual about the Standard’s reporting of Livingstone’s role at Press TV is the use of the word “emerged”, which suggests that this was somehow a secret. In fact, the article notes that three of the seven shows that he has presented have already been aired.

The Evening Standard ran a series of anti-Livingstone stories in the build up to the 2008 London mayoral election. Since then the paper has changed owners – could they be about to carry out the same tactic again?

A spokesperson for Ken Livingstone told LabourList:

“A wide range of people of different backgrounds in politics, academia and other walks of life have appeared on the channel and this is an occasional book review.”

Update: Tory MP Greg Hands has been crowing about this on Twitter, saying:

“Lots of media interest in my revealing in the Standard how Ken Livingstone is in the pay of Iranian state TV”

I guess we know how the details of Livingstone’s Press TV appearences “emerged” then…