Here we go again: Ken Livingstone has defended his Hitler remarks as “factual”
Ken Livingstone has again defended the remarks he made about Hitler which led to him being labelled as a Nazi apologist, saying they were "factual" and could be compared to "1+1=2".
Livingstone, who was suspended from the Labour party in April for defending a colleague over anti-Semitic comments, blamed "embittered MPs" for a backlash against him.
In a speech at the Oxford Union last night, he said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn "has no say" over his suspension, and refused to apologise for the comments that saw him thrown out of the party.
He defended his position, saying his comment that Hitler supported Zionism was "a historical fact".
Read more: Ken Livingstone suspended as Labour is branded a home for anti-Semites
He said: "I think this has been largely manufactured by people trying to undermine Jeremy Corbyn.
"If someone says something anti-Semitic they will be expelled but you can't expel someone for telling the truth."
He added: "I put all of this in my autobiography five years ago and no one said anything then."
The speech from Livingstone came a day after Jeremy Corbyn defended his leadership on the issue of anti-Semitism in a Vice documentary.
In the film, Corbyn walked away from an interview when Vice interviewer Ben Ferguson put it to him that he hadn't handled the situation correctly.