Livingstone refuses to say sorry for Nazi jibe
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Your support makes all the difference.Ken Livingstone today refused to apologise for comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.
Ken Livingstone today refused to apologise for comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.
As Holocaust survivors watched him at City Hall, the London Mayor said: "I cannot say to you words I do not believe in my heart."
His personal statement came after an emergency motion in which the London Assembly, the body which scrutinises his work, unanimously voted for him to immediately withdraw his remarks to Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold.
Defending his actions, Mr Livingstone claimed he had been the victim of a 24-year hate campaign by newspapers, particularly Associated Newspapers, publishers of the Evening Standard, and the Daily Mail.
He said: "If I could in anything I say relieve any pain anyone feels I would not hesitate to do it but it would require me to be a liar.
"I could apologise but why should I say words I do not believe in my heart? Therefore I cannot. If that is something people find they cannot accept I am sorry but this is how I feel after nearly a quarter of a century of their behaviour and tactics. I cannot say to you words I do not believe in my heart.
"If I could say something to lessen the pain of what I said I would. In the comments I made it simply indicated the level of loathing and disgust for the racism they have perpetuated and the bigotry they have encouraged for over 100 years."
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