Say sorry over 'slur', Livingstone told

Ken Livingstone was urged by one of his leading London supporters yesterday to make a public apology to the Jewish journalist he insulted by comparing him to a concentration camp guard.

Ken Livingstone was urged by one of his leading London supporters yesterday to make a public apology to the Jewish journalist he insulted by comparing him to a concentration camp guard.

London's mayor is facing possible censure by the Standards Board for England over the outburst.

Andrew Dismore, MP for Hendon, said: "I support a great deal of what Livingstone has done in other areas but I utterly condemn this. It would have been bad enough to have said it if he had not known the journalist was Jewish, but he did know and that makes it completely indefensible.

"He should apologise to the reporter and to the Jewish people, and he should do it quickly.''

The incident took place as the Mayor left a party he had hosted on Tuesday night in honour of the Labour MP Chris Smith, who 20 years ago was the first politician to declare that he was gay.

Mr Livingstone, approached by Oliver Finegold, from the London Evening Standard, refused to discuss the party and told the reporter: "You're just like a concentration camp guard. You're just doing it because you're paid to, aren't you?''