More than a dozen Labour MPs are calling on former mayor Ken Livingstone to be suspended over anti-Semitism row

Labour MPs are calling on the party's leadership to suspend party member Ken Livingstone after the former London mayor said in a BBC Radio London interview that Adolf Hitler was a Zionist, amid accusations that the party has issues with antisemitism. 

Livingstone told the BBC that he had "never heard anyone say anything anti-Semitic" in the Labour Party - and made the inflammatory claim that Hitler was a "Zionist."

He said: "Let's remember when Hitler won his election in 1932, his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism - this before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews."

This remark has drawn furious criticism, with people pointing out that 1932 was seven years after the publication of his racist manifesto Mein Kampf.

At least 15 MPs including Liz Kendall, Stella Creasy, and London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan have called on Livingstone to be kicked out of party. 

Livingstone's remarks came after MP for Bradford West Naz Shah was suspended by the party on Wednesday for antisemitic remarks she made about Israel on social media.

Shah was accused of sharing a Facebook post in 2014 which read: "Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict - Relocate Israel into United States", with the comment: "Problem solved."

Livingstone doubled down on his remarks in an interview with The Daily Politics on Thursday at midday - defending Nazh Shah's comments even after she apologised for them.

"There's not a problem [with anti-Semitism]," Livingstone told the BBC's Daily Politics. "You're talking about a handful of people."

Labour MP John Mann angrily confronted Ken Livingstone at Portcullis House prior to his appearance on the Daily Politics, accusing him of rewriting history over his comments on Hitler and Zionism. You can watch a video of the clash below:

Some on the right argue that Labour and the broader left has a problem with anti-Semitism, pointing to Livingstone and Shah's remarks as the latest in a string of arguably racist remarks from those on the left targeting Jews. 

BI has contacted the Labour party for comment. 

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