Red Ken Again

Ken Livingstone has embarassed himself again.

Ken Livingstone attacked David and Simon Reuben for their role in an ongoing dispute about the Stratford City development in east London.

He suggested the brothers "go back (to their own country) and see if they can do better under the ayatollahs".

He's starting to sound friendlier and friendlier every day. Just looking down the sidebar on the BBC page shows the previous headlines:

• Mayor is suspended over Nazi jibe
  
• Mayor's High Court appeal on ban
  
• Judge freezes mayor's suspension

There's some great quotes in all this lot. I've built up a bit of a timeline with some of the more exciting ones, starting with the original insult:

The mayor asked the reporter if he was a German war criminal, then told him he was like a concentration camp guard.

And then when asked to apologise:

And he [Ken] said he would not be apologising to the Evening Standard journalist Oliver Finegold, as it would be an insincere apology.

"I believe what I said was right. I said it to many journalists. No one has ever complained before," said Mr Livingstone.

Hmm. That's not the best way to make people like you. The result?

A disciplinary hearing found he had brought his office into disrepute and suspended him from office for four weeks.

...

The chairman of the panel, David Laverick, said it had decided on a ban because Mr Livingstone had failed to realise the seriousness of his outburst.

He said: "The case tribunal accepts that this is not a situation when it would be appropriate to disqualify the mayor.

"The case tribunal is, however, concerned that the mayor does seem to have failed, from the outset of this case, to have appreciated that his conduct was unacceptable, was a breach of the code (the GLA code of conduct) and did damage to the reputation of his office."

Mr Laverick went on to say that the complaint should never have reached the board but did so because of Mr Livingstone's failure to apologise.

But finally he got away with it.

The mayor of London's four-week suspension has been frozen by a High Court judge, pending an appeal.

Now let's have a think. You emerge from all of this mess, having cost the government over £50,000 and yourself £80,000. What's the best thing to do? I know, let's insult some more Jewish people!

It's no longer a joke. The sooner he goes the better.