Labour - Antisemitic ?

The Ken Livingstone brouhaha rumbles on. He hasn't quite started hissing at Jews yet, like an away supporter at White Hart Lane, but he seems to have calculated that Jewish votes are expendable, Muslim votes are not. I guess it's all a question of numbers.

Ken also seems to view taxpayers money as his to play with - I wonder who funded the 'Chris Smith coming out anniversary' party ? There were also reports (I'll try and find the link) that he dropped GLC funding for the 'Make Poverty History' bash after being told he couldn't share a platform with Nelson Mandela.

He's peforming a juggling act with London's uphill gardeners, dividing the idealistic Tatchellites, who object to his association with Islamic fundamentalists, from the realpolitikos.

And he's using his powers to pursue his vendetta against the Evening Standard in alliance with Richard Desmond.

For Labour as a whole, the row over the 'Fagin' and 'Flying Pigs' advert has probably helped, if not to attract Muslim votes, at least to help deny them to the Tories. After the row no-one who reads the papers could be unaware that Michael Howard is Jewish. Not exactly a heart-breaking revelation if you're a Labour leader trying to hang onto the Muslim vote.

We can probably expect more of the same ethical stuff, given that Trevor (FCUK) Beattie is running their advertising. Personally, I regard the man who invented the FCUK shirt as this chap.


UPDATE - Harry and Norm give the subject of Ken a kick-around.