Jeremy Corbyn's office 'blocks Ken Livingstone from appearing on TV'
The Labour leadership is said to think the former London mayor has become "uncontrollable" and provokes too many rows
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Your support makes all the difference.Ken Livingstone, the former mayor of London, is being blocked from appearing on TV by members of Jeremy Corbyn’s inner circle, who fear he has become “uncontrollable”.
The Labour leader’s office has reportedly been calling producers on the BBC’s top political shows to insist Mr Livingstone does not appear.
Mr Livingstone will even be sidelined for the rest of the London mayoral election campaign, the Daily Telegraph reports, after the Labour leadership became increasingly exasperated by Mr Livingstone’s public statements.
It follows a succession of rows provoked by Mr Livingstone’s media appearances. The former mayor, MP and Greater London Council leader has been a vocal supporter of Mr Corbyn on the airwaves.
But the leader’s office has become infuriated by Mr Linvingstone’s propensity to turn up to TV shows uninvited and to dominate the news with an unwanted row, leaving Mr Corbyn’s aides to pick up the pieces.
One source told the Telegraph: “He is uncontrollable, a loose cannon who doesn’t tell anyone anything,” said one Labour insider.
“He just turns up at the broadcast studios unannounced and makes everything worse. He can dominate a whole news cycle which is not a good thing.”
Numerous calls have been made to shows including Question Time on BBC1, and the Daily Politics on BBC2, demanding he be pulled from the running order, the Telegraph reported.
Mr Livingstone was ordered to apologise last year after saying rebellious shadow minister Kevan Jones, who has spoken in Parliament of his battle with depression, needed "psychiatric help".
There have also been attacks on other moderate MPs seen as hostile to Mr Corbyn, whom Mr Livingstone has known for years.
Last month Mr Linvingtone attacked a donation to Dan Jarvis from a financier as being like "Jimmy Savile funding a children's group".
Mr Livingstone did manage to appear in the media to talk about David Cameron's tax affairs last week. But generally Mr Livingstone and Mr Corbyn's relationship has apparently been on the slide.
Reports that Mr Livingstone was in line for a peerage or a shadow cabinet role have come to nothing so far. And in January, it was reported that Mr Livingstone had been sidlined from Labour's internal defence policy review, though he remains its co-convenor.
Asked to respond to the story, Mr Livingstone said: "I don't believe it."
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: "Jeremy Corbyn continues to have a close working relationship with Ken Livingstone who also remains the co-convenor of Labour's international policy commission".
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