Assembly members dare to praise Ken. Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane, shall we?

At Mayor’s Question Time, some Labour Assembly members and members of the Green Party, including Jenny Jones, were praising the Mayoralty of Ken Livingstone.  Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane shall we? 

Handling of public  finances. The Forensic Audit Panel, set up to investigate the failings of the London Development Agency, when Ken was Mayor, concluded “Our investigations have left us in no doubt that money has been misspent, on a massive scale, say tens of millions.  A click on the first link reveals proof from City Hall records that Ken Livingstone spent public funds on himself and his pals with an abandon that surpassed P. Diddy and Tom Cruise.  He treated City Hall like his own personal piggy bank.

Womens’ and gay rights:  Ken’s much vaunted support for womens’ and gay rights were given the lie through his support for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose  views are here.  Ken worked for this man on Press TV and had to be prised from the job under protest. Ken’s close friendship with the appalling Sheikh Al Qaradawi did nothing for his image.  The Sheikh is homophobic, anti-semitic, accepts rape and violence against women and refuses to condemn female genital mutilation.  This is the man that Ken praised as “progressive”.

So disruptive was Ken’s attitude towards the Jewish and gay communities, the Times wrote a leader in protest.  The newspaper condemned him for playing divide and rule.

Then there was the little matter of Ken’s tax avoidance, on which he failed to lie himself out of trouble.  He made matters worse by trying to taint Boris with the same crime, and Bojo nearly punched his lights out. 

I find it disgusting and shocking that any member of the London Assembly, dubbed the home of democracy, could defend such a man, and Ed Miliband’s reputation is soiled because he did not speak out either, on some occasions even perpetrated the lies.   London had a narrow escape.   Another Ken mayoralty would have been a corrupt and utter disaster. To anyone who dares to praise the Mayoralty of Ken Livingstone  I have to say this.   ”How could you!!!”

PETER TATCHELL WAS RIGHT ABOUT RED KEN IN 2004

Like many people,  I admire Peter Tatchell.  So it is not easy for me to say that I do not agree with everything Peter said about Ken Livingstone last week.

In July 2004, Peter Tatchell wrote this about Ken on his blog:  ““Ken Livingstone has sided with male Muslim misogynists and homophobes against women and gay Londoners,” 

He was commenting on the Mayor of London’s decision to host controversial Muslim scholar, Dr Al-Qaradawi, and to invite him to a further conference at City Hall in October.

Laurie Pennie’s reputation as a feminist is gone unless she gives up supporting Red Ken

Yesterday, journalist Laurie Penny appeared on Daily Politics hosted  by Andrew Neil, with another guest, Danny Finkelstein.  It was bad enough when Laurie blithely declared she could run RBS.  Her support for the mayoral candidacy of Ken  Livingstone betrayed such appalling ignorance, it’s hard to believe she can ever be taken seriously again.

The Labour Party is known for its hardcore feminism, and Harriet Harman pushes a line that many sensible woman reject.  But where is the opposition from Labour women to a Mayoral candidate who endorses Iranian extremists? Ken Livingstone invited Sheikh Al Qaradawi to City Hall in 2008, when he was Mayor. The Sheikh was denounced by, among others Peter Tatchell, who said:

“Qaradawi also sanctions domestic violence against disobedient wives; blames rape victims who do not dress with sufficient modesty; and supports the barbaric practice of female genital mutilation (which involves cutting the clitoris of young girls; denying them full sexual pleasure in later life).  Qaradawi’s anti-humanitarian views are a matter of public record on BBC Monitoring, Al Jazeera and Qatar TV, the Al- Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper – and in his own books, such as Modern Fatwas.”

GREAT NEW MOVIE IN PRE-PRODUCTION: RED KEN’S HENCHMEN

The double sided DVD, Hitler’s Henchman, was such a success,  a new movie is in pre-production.  Red Ken’s Henchman!  After Kate Winslett’s  success in The Reader, Hollywood beauties, including Nicole Kidman. Rees Witherspoon and Madonna, are fighting for the part of Suzanne Lejeune, the intrepid, French, historically misunderstood collaborator.  Suzanne slept with half the Nazi Party, and told them how great a lot of the French Resistance were!  What a sweetie!  She wasn’t carrying out the work of Hitler!  She was reaching out to the Nazis. 

Opening scene:  Women, liberal Muslims, and the Jewish and gay communities are filmed crying like the North Koreans at death of Kim Jong-il, at the mere suggestion that Ken Livingstone might return to City Hall.

Scenes 2- 10:  (flashback to 2008).  Gay activist and freedom fighter Peter Tatchell remonstrates with the then Mayor of London Ken Livingstone for inviting homophobic, Holocaust denying misogynist Sheikh Al Qaradawi to City Hall as a guest as part of the reaching out process.  The Sheikh, who believes rape is OK!, female genital mutilation is a fashion statement, and giving any woman a smack in the mouth is necessary to put her in her place, is endorsed by charitable Ken as “progressive”.  The fun Sheikh likes slogans, such as  ”Destroy the usurper Jews!”  As part of the reaching out process, wouldn’t you think that Ken would drop a hint to the press and voters that he thinks the Sheikh is, well a little extreme?  Not a word.  Crikey!  Through his silence, innocent Ken is giving the inadvertent impression he agrees with the Sheikh’s beliefs!  So mean that people don’t give him the benefit of the doubt!

HOW RED KEN SOLD OUT THE JEWISH AND GAY COMMUNITIES FOR A SMALL FORTUNE

The Daily Telegraph has published an article revealing that Ken Livingstone made £284,582, selling out the London Jewish and gay communities.

The Telegraph said:  “Iran may be one of the last pariah states in the Middle East, but it has  proved lucrative for Ken Livingstone.

Mandrake learns that Labour’s candidate to be the next mayor of London is sitting on a £284,582 fortune which he accumulated from sources including   the Iran-funded Press TV.

The latest accounts for Red Ken’s company, Silveta Limited, disclose that his   “cash at bank and in hand” increased to £319,083 last year, and was then swelledby a further £27,615 from debtors. He was able to leave £284,582 in   funds for the two shareholders: he and his wife, Emma Beal.”

The owners of Press TV deny the Holocaust and believe that gay people should be killed.  Ken gave up the well paid job allegedly only under extreme duress.

How Ken has the nerve to be Labour’s Mayoral candidate, I will never know.  He is not fit to run.

WITH KEN, SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD

Has Ken ever been known to apologise for anything?  To Oliver Finegold?  To the Reuben Brothers?  To the gay and Jewish communities, whom he deeply offended by working for Press TV?  To Eddie Lister?  To the parents of the murdered teenagers, whose feelings he trampled over when he said “If it bleeds, it leads?”  A diverse city like London more than anything needs a Mayor, who will unite us all as Londoners.  Under peace loving, freedom loving Boris Johnson, that is happening.  Ken sees the Mayoralty as a platform for his extremist views, and to hell with the consequences.

Vishnu, the Indian God of mercy, goodness and peace

Boris wants all religions to pray together, and urges us to mentor and volunteer to help others.  Ken seems determined to remind us endlessly of religious differences and the most painful episodes in our history.  It is true that some of Ken’s worst remarks were six years ago,but he has never apologised. On the contrary,  in spite of being suspended as Mayor and bringing his office into disrepute, he carries on doing it.   He delights in stirring up friction, like the spiteful adolescent  out to wreck a happy family occasion. 

LEFTIE JOURNOS, DO YOU THINK EXTREMIST LINKS MAKE KEN UNFIT TO RUN?

Leftie blogger Mayorwatch reported today that Ken Livingstone has been censured (again!) by the London Assembly for his remark comparing new Boris aide Eddie Lister to Serbian dictator, Ratko Mladic. Martin Hoscik of Mayorwatch does not excuse the comment by Ken,  as he made plain in a previous blog. One of Boris’s strengths is the way he has united Londoners, and a slight against one of us affects us all.

Ken has been censured by the London Assembly before for inappropriate insults and suspended for four weeks for bringing his office into disrepute when he was Mayor, over the Oliver Finegold controversy.  As described on the link, he was also heavily criticised for his remarks regarding the Reuben Brothers.

THE EXTREMIST VIEWS OF KEN LIVINGSTONE

Years ago, I voted for Ken Livingstone, because I admired his independence.  When he lost to Boris Johnson, I felt genuine sympathy for his clear distress at losing his job, but, tied up in a demanding career,  I did not know as much about him as I do now.  When Ken loses to Boris a second time,  I will not feel an shred of sympathy, because he has so alienated and angered me with his extremist views.  Not only do I believe that Ken as Mayor would tear London apart, I believe he is not fit to be a Mayoral candidate and should not have been allowed to stand.

Ken’s campaign got off to a shaky start.  Jonathan Freedland of the Guardian said Ken wasn’t much cop and maybe Labour should think about getting somebody else.  That must look pretty prophetic from where Ed Miliband is sitting today.

KEN AND THE JEWISH COMMUNITY: The writing was on the wall. The Oliver Finegold controversy in 2006, saw Ken compare a Jewish reporter to a German war criminal and a concentration camp guard. A transcript of the conversation is here.  The incident was investigated, and the London Assembly voted overwhelmingly that he should apologise. Ken insultingly refused. On 24 February 2006, Ken Livingstone was found guilty of bringing his office into disrepute and suspended from office for four weeks, the verdict being that he seemed “to have failed… to have appreciated that his conduct was unacceptable”.

KEN IS THE GENERAL FROM PLANET ZOD

In Superman II, General Zod flies down, determined to conquer  Planet Earth, but he is soon revealed as a destructive megalomaniac, unable to adapt to reality.  He is surrounded by mindless underlings, who bolster his ego with remarks like “You are master of all you survey!”  He controls his minions by brainwashing.  If anyone opposes him in a serious way, he holds a grudge for ever and ever.*  Remind you of anyone?

General Zod does not take orders, he gives them.  He says:  “I am General Zod. Your ruler. Yes, today begins a new order. Your lands, your possessions, your very lives, will gladly be given in tribute to me, General Zod! In return for your obedience you will enjoy my protection. Kneel before Zod!”

Ken Livingstone is revealing the same megalomaniac mindset, in his refusal to learn from his defeat by Boris Johnson.   He has alienated the Jewish and gay communities, and all right minded people who detest any form of prejudice, but he still insists that he is a great uniting figure. 

Under Ken Livingstone, London would be torn apart

Christians constitute the largest religious group in London (58.2 per cent of the city’s population), followed by those of no religion (15.8 per cent), Muslims (8.5 per cent), Hindus (4.1 per cent), Jews (2.1 per cent), Sikhs (1.5 per cent), Buddhists (0.8 per cent) and other (0.5 per cent), though 8.7 per cent of people did not answer this question in the Census. In 2009, under Labour, anti-semitic attacks reached a record level,  and this was described by Gordon Brown as “deeply troubling”.

Sikh children

It’s impossible to say exactly what percentage of London’s population is gay or lesbian. A rough estimate made by the Gay to Z website on how many gay people live in London put the figure at approximately 5%, or 400,000 people in the Capital.  If we look at the number of social, political and cultural groups that work under the lesbian and gay banner in and around the city it is obvious that London is the gay capital of the UK.