Dispatches on Ken Livingstone - some live blogging

This is a report on the programme, so the text is the programme's view not mine.... (my comments in italics)


"Ken gets away with the unacceptable, that's Ken". That sort of sums it all up and in the first minute

"Ideologically driven, headline grabbing politics"

Inner circle - John Ross, Simon Fletcher, Redmond O'Neill and Mark Watts - £1 million a year - and all former members of Socialist Action - John Ross - "the ruling class must know they will be killed if ..." leader of Socialist Action and Mark Watts his deputy.

Atma Singh - Socialist Action's view of goals for London before Livingstone was Mayor. Creating London as a city state - Ken Livingstone did not object...


Redmond O'Neill - £121,360 a year as head of Transport in London.

Head of TFL and Lynne Featherstone say they very rarely see Redmond O'Neill.


Claims about using public money to pay Anne Kane to investigate Trevor Phillips to smear him, article published on a website linked to Lee Jasper

Dame Judith Mayhew Jonas is shocked and says Ken Livingstone should apologise to Trevor Phillips.

Retrospective appointment was OK'd by internal enquiry.


Foreign embassies - Brussels, China, India. 17 cities visited.



Ken's comment that Tianneman Square massacre has parallels with Trafalgar Square



£605.91 on room service in India for Ken Livingstone - that's not easy unless there for a long time and hard to justify as essential




Part 2 - now Foreign links:

Hugo Chavez - oil for expertise

Close look at contract - Alan Duncan discusses - the effect is that one of the poorest countries in the world subsidising one of the richest cities in the world, Alan Duncan calls it immoral

London Buses promoting a country with links to Iran ...

Half price travel for London's unemployed - £15 million budget, £1 million on advertising and there was no consultation with TfL



He and personal advisers impose their views on London



and now the al-Qaradawi connection

Peter Tatchell speaks (does he ever age?)
Peter questionned al-Qaradawi - anti-Semitic, homophobe etc. so Ken called Peter Tatchell an Islamaphobe
100% for Ken's team or 100% against them

Islamaphobia in the media -
Duty to promote good racial relations
Ken happy with the £31,000 report



London Assembly of 25 elected politicians was set-up to scrutinise the London Mayor.

Weakness of Assembly is that it has just one sanction to reject the annual budget



Now the Bob Kiley story - Ken saying that Assembly members are collecting the money and not earning it, close to fraudulent "giant compared with a midget like you"




Ken in public cuddly but not always

Now the concentration camp guard jibe - "it was meant to be offensive"




Peoples Question Time

Alcohol drinking scandal - "Ken gets away with the unacceptable, that's Ken"

Night time and day time meetings "it's the whisky that keeps me going", against code of conduct, unless signed off by Mayor or .... (maybe Assembly members)

Few controls over mayor's behaviour or spending




Part 3 - London Development Agency (Ken's piggy bank) and possible electoral malpractice...

£500 million plus a year budget

Some of the projects - EuroNix (?) Ltd
£150,000 in 2 yeras but never filed accounts - building empty for 3 years
Wound up when accounts were due - director lives in Israel...

Women's education in Building, Music City (£40K) ceased trading before filing accounts

£1.8 million paid to companies that have ceased trading or gone into liquidation, often (?) in same year public money was allocated...

Suitability of projects - Absen Ltd (?) vegetable oil powered aircraft???


Deloittes' report - Ken never read the report criticising the LDA


Spending taxpayers money on promoting his policies £23 million in last year on advertising and PR - £1 million more than Microsoft in UK!

Congestion Charge - introduced to try and solve problem of congestion. Data shows otherwise. So now it's for traffic reduction which is not the same as reducing congestion.

TfL's stats show 2 seconds per km improvement!

London Buses - slower ever year - down 11%

Make money available to invest in public transport. Scheme was simple and inefficient - 50% on administration



A greater scandal...

Ken has to resign post during last election, as should advisers but some advisers didn't...

ken4london.co.uk

Slightly scared looked man of Indian descent admitting to campaigning for Ken Livingstone whilst a GLA employee like all but 3 of the campaign team



Ken Livingstone refused to answer questions as programme was partisan and he didn't have enough time to respond...


Missed opportunities, should represent whole of London. Maybe problem is with post of Mayor...




Very interesting, now wait for Ken Livingstone's reaction and attack on the programme makers, the presenter, Channel 4 etc. etc. etc. He will try and portray himself as being the target of a right wing conspiracy and then attack Boris Johnson's record and lifestyle. But first will come the attacks on Martin Bright for making the programme, what there will not be is a point by point repudiation of the claims - it's going to get very nasty...




Quote of the night from Conservative Home's live blogging, which I was reading and participating in whilst watching the programme and live blogging here - who says only women can multitask? - "You may not be a sheep NotaSheep but you're certainly a political animal!"