Louise Nousratpour at City Hall
Tuesday January 22, 2008
The Morning Star
LONDON Mayor Ken Livingstone hit back at a "grossly biased" Channel 4 documentary on Tuesday, which he said was based on "shoddy" evidence and designed only to damage his re-election campaign.
Monday night's Dispatches programme, presented by New Statesman political editor Martin Bright, accused Mr Livingstone of decadence, cronyism and links to left group Socialist Action, which was conspiring to turn London into a "socialist city state."
Amused by accusations of a shady socialist conspiracy, Mr Livingstone told his weekly press conference: "That socialists are working for me and campaigning to get me re-elected will come as no news to Londoners."
He dismissed Mr Bright's research as a joke, saying that it was "a violation of the most elementary rules of impartiality and objectivity that Channel 4 should have broadcast such a diatribe shortly before an election without any balance at all."
Mr Bright escalated his smear campaign when he labelled the mayor "a disgrace" in an article published in London's right-wing Evening Standard.
He urged Londoners to "kick Ken out" when they go to the polls in May.
During a heated City Hall conference, Mr Livingstone systematically refuted the Dispatches allegations.
Mr Bright, who was present at the weekly conference, again accused the mayor's advisers of having breached electoral regulations by campaigning for his re-election while on the public payroll.
"My advisers work many more hours than they are paid for. This is not a job where you clock in and out between nine and five, so it's difficult to separate work time from play time," the mayor explained.
Mr Livingstone then turned the spotlight on Mr Bright for failing to question the slack performance of the London General Assembly, which is tasked with scrutinising mayoral policies.
"They are not doing their job. Some, in particular the Tory bloc, really only work on a part-time basis and are paid £50,000-plus by the taxpayer," said the mayor.
He added that, if he actually did have "too much" power, as suggested by Mr Bright, he would "kick them out of the assembly."
By this point, Mr Bright's face was red with embarrassment and frustration and he kept interrupting Mr Livingstone, who asked: "Why, when journalists are criticised, do they behave like loud-mouthed buffoons?"
Mr Livingstone added that, although he believed that Channel 4 had breached electoral impartiality rules, it would be a "waste of time and money" to press charges.
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