Mayor to face hearing over Nazi jibe
London mayor Ken Livingstone will face a disciplinary hearing for comparing a Jewish journalist to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews filed a complaint to the Standards Board for England, the local government watchdog, in February after Mr Livingstone compared Evening Standard journalist Oliver Finegold to a Nazi concentration camp guard.
Officials have decided to hold an inquiry into the allegations.
The former firebrand left-wing MP will appear before the Independent Adjudication Panel for England to face the claims that he failed to treat others with respect and brought his mayoralty into disrepute, the Standards Board for England said in a statement.
If found guilty of breaching the Greater London Authority code of conduct, Mr Livingstone could be suspended, forced to undergo training, or even be banned from office for five years.
The public hearing could take place in early December.
The incident that led to the allegations took place outside a party for MP Chris Smith, where the mayor accused Mr Finegold of pursuing him and likened him to a German war criminal.
Mr Finegold replied that he was Jewish and quite offended by the remark – to which the mayor said: “you are just like a concentration camp guard, you are just doing it because you are paid to, aren’t you?”
Mr Livingstone has refused to apologise for the remarks, insisting they were taken out of context and were in no way anti-Semitic.
He has also said he was the victim of a hate campaign by Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Evening Standard and the Daily Mail.
