No apology from Livingstone over Nazi remark

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has said that he will not apologise for comparing a Jewish reporter to a concentration camp guard.

Mr Livingstone was caught on tape accusing Evening Standard reporter Oliver Finegold of behaving like a concentration camp guard.

Speaking today at City Hall in London, the Mayor made it clear that he would not be apologising to Mr Finegold or the Associated Newspapers group, which owns both the Daily Mail and the Evening Standard, and he also accused the Mail of having a 'history of support' for anti-Semitism and fascism. However, he also said that he had not intended to cause offence to Jewish Londoners with his remarks.

Mr Livingstone said: "I have been deeply affected by the concern of Jewish people in particular that my comments downplayed the horror and magnitude of the Holocaust. I wish to say to those Londoners that my words were not intended to cause such offence and that my view remains that the Holocaust against the Jews is the greatest racial crime of the 20th century."

Mr Livingstone added: "A week ago I said it was not my intention to apologise to the Daily Mail group journalist or his employers. Upon a further week of reflection in which I have read everything written in the press about this controversy and after considerable debate with many Londoners I have decided to stand by that position. There will therefore be no apology or expression of regret to the Daily Mail group."

Mr Livingstone made his remarks to Mr Finegold at a party marking twenty years since former Culture Secretary Chris Smith became the UK's first openly gay MP.

Since then there have been numerous calls for Mr Livingstone to apologise, from a range of people including Prime Minister Tony Blair, Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell and Jewish Community leaders.

Mr Livingstone issued a statement last week saying that he had received nearly a thousand pieces of correspondence regarding the matter – over two-thirds (68%) of which supported his position.

Mr Livingstone also issued a statement which claimed that when he left to take over as chairman of Associated Newspapers former Daily Mail editor David English held a party at which he and all his staff dressed as Hitler and various members of the Third Reich. He said that the information had been contained in the book, 'An Unlikely Hero', a history of the Daily Mail.

The Daily Mail included a statement in today's paper refuting the Mayor's claims, saying that Mr English did not dress up as Hitler at the party and that only five non-senior staff members turned up dressed in German military uniforms as a 'spoof' – an act that Mr English had considered in 'extremely bad taste', the paper said.

The Daily Mail described Mr Livingstone's statement as a "cynically distorted attempt" to excuse his behaviour and said that his attempt to include the Mail in his dispute with Mr Finegold and the Evening Standard was "an absurd and dishonest diversionary tactic."

(KMcA/SP)