Livingstone wins Nazi jibe appeal

12 April 2012

London mayor Ken Livingstone has claimed "a victory for democracy and common sense" after the High Court cleared him of bringing his office into disrepute by making a Nazi jibe against a Jewish reporter.

A judge said Mr Livingstone's remark while "off duty" was "unnecessarily offensive" and "indefensible", and he should have apologised.

But the judge added that "the right to freedom of speech does extend to abuse" and "flamboyant, eccentric characters" in local government should not be penalised for such off-duty behaviour.

The judge ruled the Adjudication Panel for England had misdirected itself in February when it found the mayor breached the Greater London Authority code of conduct by likening Evening Standard journalist Oliver Finegold to a concentration camp guard

The decision to suspend the mayor for four weeks for his remarks was also declared "clearly wrong".

The judge set aside the finding that Mr Livingstone had failed to comply with the code of conduct and formally quashed the suspension.

Mr Justice Collins, sitting at the High Court in London, said: "The tribunal took the view the mayor effectively was so high profile it was almost impossible to distinguish the man from his office.

"It seems to me to be a somewhat dangerous approach because, if taken to its logical extreme, any misconduct in his private life by anyone of high profile, such as the mayor of London, would automatically bring him within the code. That is not what Parliament intended."

Mr Livingstone later said he had been vindicated, but his critics accused him of "damaging London" and needlessly running up huge legal costs after he refused to apologise for the Nazi jibe.

Angie Bray, leader of the London Assembly Conservatives, claimed the legal victory for the mayor had left the Standards Board for England "toothless".

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