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Watch: Ken Livingstone’s career-ending Daily Politics interview – ‘a real anti-Semite doesn’t just hate the Jews in Israel’

After Ken Livingstone claimed that Hitler supported Zionism and that anti-Semitism is not racism in a BBC radio interview, Labour MPs including Jess Phillips and Sadiq Khan have called for Ken Livingstone to be expelled from the party. With Corbyn — slow as ever — to respond to their calls, Livingstone appeared on the Daily Politics presumably in the hope of conducting some damage limitation.

Alas this didn’t go to plan, and instead Red Ken made his situation even worse as he went on to say that he had seen ‘nothing to suggest’ Naz Shah is anti-Semitic — despite the Labour MP admitting yesterday that her posts were guilty of anti-Semitism. Ken went on to say that Shah’s comments were ‘completely over-the-top and rude’ but not anti-Semitic:

‘That is part of the classic anti-Semitic thing about an ‘international Jewish conspiracy’ – that is the reason we need to have an investigation. I’ve got an open mind.

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Steerpike
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Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

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