Support for Ken Livingstone

There appears to be a groundswell of support for Ken Livingstone following his temporary removal from office by an unelected gang of three. Here's the Guardian:

The government-appointed officials comprise David Laverick, a solicitor who is president of the Adjudication Panel and a pensions ombudsman, Darryl Stephenson, former chief executive of East Riding district council, and Peter Norris, a former civil servant, who is now a consultant to local authorities and children's charities.

In the hours following the panel's decision to suspend Mr Livingstone from office for likening a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard, allies and some critics voiced strong support for the mayor and hinted at practical assistance.

Tony Woodley, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union, said: "It is outrageous that an unelected body of three men has deprived seven million Londoners of their elected mayor for four weeks. Whilst many had wanted Ken Livingstone to apologise, suspension for such a long period seems to me to be totally disproportionate and serves no other purpose than to disrupt the work of the [Greater London] authority at a time when London needs it most. We will support London's mayor in whatever measures he may take to challenge this scandal."

Andrew Dismore, chair of London's Labour MPs, said the mayor had brought his office into disrepute but added: "It is for the people of London to decide who should or should not be the mayor of London, not an unelected panel of bureaucrats." Jenny Jones, a Green party London assembly member, said she was "outraged that this system allows three undemocratically appointed individuals to suspend a man who was elected by the vote of millions of Londoners".

Meanwhile, Something Jewish tries to put the whole non-issue into perspective:

In a statement The Board said:

"The Board of Deputies of British Jews regrets that the Mayor’s intransigence over his hurtful comments last February outside City Hall and his subsequent failure to apologise has lead to a finding that the Office of the Mayor has been brought into disrepute. Had the Mayor simply recognised the upset his comments had caused, this sorry episode could have been avoided. He has been the architect of his own misfortune."

What upset did he cause, if only to the journalist in question? If you are a journalist doing any sort of door stepping or going up to public figures in the street, you should be made of thicker skin. Ken did not insult all Jews, he insulted one and it was within context.

Mark Lawson's Guardian comment is worth a look at too.