Labour revolt grows after Livingstone clings on to party membership

Leading Labour figures, including Tom Watson, have today spoken out in anger after the party stopped short of expelling Ken Livingstone over his bizarre Hitler rant.

MPs and activists condemned the comments of the former London mayor and said the decision to merely prolong his suspension undermined Labour’s stance to adopt a “zero tolerance” approach to anti-Semitism.

They voiced their concerns on television and social media after Livingstone escaped being kicked out of the party and instead had his temporary ban extended for one year after the national constitutional committee (NCC) found he had broken the rules when he claimed Hitler backed Zionism “before he went mad and ended up million six million Jews”.

Tom Watson, deputy leader, branded the decision to allow Livingstone to return to the party as “incomprehensible”.

“It isn’t just Jewish people who feel disgusted and offended by what Mr Livingstone said and by the way he has conducted himself over this matter, and it isn’t just Jewish Labour members who feel ashamed of any indulgence of his views anywhere in the Labour Party. This shames us all, and I’m deeply saddened by it,” he said in a statement.

Sadiq Khan, London mayor, said it was “deeply disappointing” that Livingstone stayed in and the outcome of the disciplinary process “does not reflect the severity of the verdict”.

Jon Ashworth, shadow health secretary, wrote on Twitter: “I really can’t understand how if the NCC judges someone has brought party in disrepute they can think this an acceptable sanction”.

Wes Streeting, MP for Ilford North, appeared on BBC Newsnight yesterday to tell Livingstone: “Your lack of apology brings the Labour Party into disrepute”.

Last night Luciana Berger, MP for Liverpool Wavertree, said: “A new low for my party this evening. Appalling decision. Why is antisemitism being treated differently from any other form of racism?”