On Ken Livingstone
We publish here a tribute by Graham Bash to Ken Livingstone, who has sadly been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.
Graham recalls Ken’s achievements as leader of the Greater London Council until its abolition by Margaret Thatcher in 1986 and as Mayor of London 2000-2008; his immense talent as an intuitive practical politician; his uncompromising anti-racism; his ability to cut across political divisions and build alliances. Graham notes Ken’s weaknesses, which at times infuriated left-wing friends almost as much as his successes enraged adversaries on the right. He also records the shameful behaviour of many erstwhile allies who failed to show Ken the solidarity he deserved when facing totally unfounded allegations of antisemitism.
(NWI)
Breaking the mould of British politics
The news that Ken Livingstone has Alzheimer’s disease and is now in retirement is very sad and we in JVL send him our very best wishes.
It is all too easy to forget the enormity of the achievements of the Greater London Council of which he was leader in the 1980s. It broke the mould of British politics, gave hope to millions of the most disadvantaged people in London and showed that a determined socialist administration could take on the Tories and win mass popular support.
And this was achieved against Thatcher’s vicious Tory government -and with a GLC Labour Group that had nowhere near a left wing majority. That was testimony to Ken’s greatest strengths – his immense talent as an intuitive practical politician and his ability to cut across political divisions and build alliances.
His other great achievement as leader of the GLC was his commitment to equalities and the liberation of the oppressed – to Black people, women, Irish, lesbians and gays. He played a pivotal role on the issue of Ireland, tirelessly fighting for peace and building links with Sinn Fein.
He helped to introduce a new vocabulary into our political discourse. As he was later to write: “It was only with the 1981 GLC administration that they [equalities] finally took their rightful place alongside and integrated with the traditional agenda of the left”.
And those of us old enough to remember will recall those wonderful banners on County Hall facing the Houses of Parliament, such as “74% of Londoners Oppose GLC Abolition: LONDON’S NOT FOR TURNING”.
Ken had his political weaknesses. He was a wonderful practical politician – but he lacked that ideological tempering that would have avoided the worst mistakes of his volte face on rate-capping, for example, and ended up in an alliance on this critical issue against the left.
But there was a second and third coming of Ken – as a left wing Labour MP for Brent East (1987-2001) and as Mayor of London. As Mayor, he again showed his political weakness when he urged RMT members to cross a picket line in a London Underground dispute, a move which angered many trade union and party activists. Yet also as Mayor, he had the considerable achievement of introducing the Congestion Charge – in the teeth of opposition which involved fighting a court action.
The congestion charge raised revenue that was used to increase the numbers of buses, their routes and timing. That shifted transport provision towards low-income and no income people, who proportionately rely more on buses than trains and tubes. Other transport improvements were improving cycle routes and giving interest-free loans to buy bikes – even though he didn’t know how to ride a bike himself!
He was perhaps the greatest anti-racist leader the Labour Party has ever produced. So the allegations of antisemitism were in my opinion an obscenity. His crime was telling the truth about the Haavara Agreement in the 1930s – in which some Zionist organisations played a role in breaking the anti-Hitler trade boycott that threatened to bring the new Nazi regime to its knees.
Yes, his formulations were clumsy and his intervention was tactically unhelpful. But his essential point was true, as can be seen from the book by the Zionist, Edwin Black, The Transfer Agreement.
Ken was let down by the Labour Party and by many of his comrades on the left who forgot the simple word – “solidarity”. It is a shame we must not forget.
We wish Ken well in what we hope will be many years of retirement.
Mike Cushman adds:
As a Londoner, I celebrate how Ken changed the city I live for the better in many more ways than those already mentioned in Graham’s appreciation. These are just three
- The transformation of the South Banks (in cooperation with much missed Tony Banks) from an arts centre for an elite who were already immersed in prestigious culture to an arts and social space enjoyed by a vast swathe of Londoners exhibiting artistic endeavours reflective of many experiences. This turned spaces, cold and empty outside performance times, into somewhere warm, lively and busy
- The development of a bike hire scheme that was only due to be completed after he left office and were misnamed Boris Bikes
- The Popular Planning Unit which transformed how local authorities could get involved in economic development with the engagement of local communities and which supported many initiatives with environmental aspects thirty years before they became common concerns
And of course the Olympics which only came to London because of his hard graft and which he was spitefully excluded from in 2012
Madeleine Kingston adds:
I worked with Ken for several years when he was Mayor of London. I was a middle aged woman and he was always lovely to work with, extremely egalitarian, never patronising and always generous, courteous and respectful. He always related to me as a comrade and a friend.
When Ken had to run as an Independent for his first mayoralty, I organised an art auction on my premises. The great and the good of the art world donated to the fundraiser, including Damien Hirst, Anthony Caro and Tracey Emin. More money was raised that evening for Ken’s campaign than by any other means.
Ken did more to combat racism and homophobia than the whole House of Commons put together. He funded minority groups…black lesbians, Afro-Caribbeans, gay groups, irish, Muslims, and any group who was able to constitute as a minority group ..to develop and articulate their own specific needs and criticisms, and feed into the Greater London Council.
What impressed me most about him was his funding for setting up of a telephone help-line for under 18 yo gays, at a time when Thatcher was raging war on gayness with her dreadful Section 28 legislation. And this he did whilst he was also an MP for Brent east, a rather conservative predominantly Irish Catholic constituency, which he didn’t allow to over-ride his great humanity and concern for young gays. Great politician. Sad to see him fading out in this manner.
And of course all those wonderful free festivals on the south bank and elsewhere …turning London into the inclusive wonderful cosmopolitan multicultural it became during his reign
I was hugely disappointed to learn that Thatcher was getting rid of Ken Livingston, (yes getting rid) it completely messed up the whole of London and skewed the political landscape The GLC really worked for Londoners. Ken Livingstone was Such a good man and like Jeremy Corbyn the accusations of anti Semitism, the obliteration of left wing politics by the right of Labour was complete. He made his mark though and the establishment were always threatened by him.
A good summary of Ken, and as you say let down by some left of centre friends. We can only wish him well.
A story which indicates something of Ken’s reach. A work colleague invited us to dinner and introduced us to her husband who was then serving in the RAF. He said to me ‘I hear you are a socialist’ Yes I said. ‘Yes, I’m a socialist, and a pacifist ’ he said. How did that happen I said. ‘Ken Livingstone’ he replied. ‘ I was brought up a Conservative and never thought about politics but all through the IRA bombing campaign Ken urged discussions and got slammed for it. He stuck to his views and was eventually proved right. It made me think about things and I changed my mind’ .
We owe much to “Red Ken”. As Graham and Mike say, he was a practical politician but not just expedient – with a strong moral base, concerned with what was right for the people. And there was a great sense of excitement in London and beyond about what he was doing and about London itself. He stood up and stood out against the evils of Mrs Thatcher – you always knew where he stood. Yes, he could be clumsy and even maladroit on occasion, but you knew where his heart was – and that he was never afraid to follow it. He was determined in his pursuit of equality despite the ordure this often brought down upon him. There was not a racist bone in his body, so much so that the wicked allegation of antisemitism made against him clearly hurt him deeply. As a Londoner and former GLC officer, I salute him and wish him and his own well. In solidarity, David
I would like to add to the tributes to Ken in the article. During the 1980’s I worked for the Inner London Education Authority (ILEA: a sub-committee of the GLC) running youth projects in London. The resources that Ken enabled as Leader of the GLC were invaluable in terms of social and political education with young people e.g. funding the North Paddington Women’s Centre & producing a publication on anti-Irish racism. After the GLC was abolished in 1986, ILEA lost its’ way. Today we put up our framed Ken4London poster and badge in recognition of the huge impact he has had on London over so many years. He is a pioneer who took on Thatcher. Solidarity Comrade Ken ✊????
Ken’s period at the GLC coincided with my job at an opera house on the same tube line. We often traveled on the tube together and he was perfectly happy to chat with me about political matters. He was attentive, charming and funny.
A genuine Mensch who was crucified by his own side…now in top LP positions.
Ken’s solidarity with international struggles is also to be remembered. At a meeting he organised to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Vietnam’s victory over the brutal US war, he remarked that his political making was inspired by the heroic struggle of the Vietnamese people against the mightiest military force in the world. He was a champion of the oppressed all over the world.
Is it possible to devise a way of letting him know that he is still much loved and far from forgotten?
Living in London with my young family during The Livingstone years as Leader of the GLC and then as Mayor, after Thatcher’s spiteful move to destroy him, where the happiest years of my life: in large part due to the quality of life brought to London by a pretty phenomenal Socialist. living with the personal turmoil a diagnosis of any dementia brings to a family, my heart goes out to Ken and his kin. I hope the money from his and Pam Bromley’s court settlement earlier this week, can go some way to facilitating the support and care he deserves.
I met him at city hall in the last two years of the GLC. As a new and frustrated councillor in Bradford. Enraged at the lack of solidarity between Labour councils to refuse Tory cuts. I wanted us to copy the GLC. He was warm and friendly and understanding. Quite unlike other personally ambitious council leaders.
I’m grateful to Ken for the Fares Fair initiative & the Freedom Card. Without these many of us would be mobility restricted & he trsnsformed our lives.
I endorse what Graham has said. Ken was the pioneer of anti-racism in local government.
The fact that he and Jeremy Corbyn were both at the centre of the ‘anti-Semitism’ smear campaign proves in itself that it was wholly bogus. It is to the shame of Jon Lansman, Momentum’s dictator, that he endorsed the smears against Ken and in effect those against Jeremy.
It is testimony to the weakness of the left and the corrosive effect of identity politics as opposed to class and anti-racist politics that so many on the left were taken in by the false allegations of anti-Semitism. There were some, unnamed, who should have known better.
What Ken said about Ha’avara, the trading agreement between the Zionists and the Nazis was factually correct and contrary to the Zionist claims it was not agreed in order to save German Jews but to save their capital, as even Edwin Black points out in his book ‘The Transfer Agreement’
I am deeply saddened by the news about dear ‘Red’ Ken, a nickname the newspapers hoped would harm him but which all his supporters welcomed. Ken was an inspiration who smashed the cosy world of traditional “leave it to us” politicians. Ken was the pioneer, opening the way for Jeremy Corbyn who shamefully abandoned Ken in his desperate failed attempt to fend off the right-wing wolves. I met Ken once and will always call him comrade.
Ken has been a superb practical politician. The GLC under his leadership was open, democratic, and unapologetically radical. It terrified Kinnock as much as Thatcher. He broke through the opposition to his policies (across the media) and spoke directly to Londoners. He did the same when he stood for Mayor – winning London on his record. It’s great to read the genuine affection people have for him.
When Ken ran the GLC, he ran it for the people, as already mentioned, he tackled racism and homophobia head on.
He also transformed London Transport, the number of cars on the road through rush hour dropped dramatically, buses came along every few minutes and it was cost effective.
Thatcher hated his success of using Socialist policies to make life better for all the people, it’s why she got rid of the GLC, to get rid of Ken but Londoners voted him back as Mayor, where he carried on with his plans to make London great for all its residents.
Alzheimer’s is a nasty disease, it took my mum from us ten years before she died, she didn’t know who we were.
God Bless Ken and his family.
Ken Livingstone leaves a legacy of socialist hope over adversity.
He stood up to Thatcher when so many were keeping their heads down.
He will be remembered with great affection.
Wonderful tributes to Ken, also in the comments, that I agree wholeheartedly with. I would like to add his amazing ability to put arguments for socialism in terms that related to everyone’s daily lives. I was involved in the successful battle to get him selected as the PPC (and then MP) in Brent East and in Palestinian solidarity work. I remember speaking with him at a CLP public meeting on the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982. I had a short 5 minute talk to do but it took 20 minutes because of heckling by Zionists in the audience who had to be peacefully escorted from the meeting when they refused to shut up and wait for their opportunity to ask questions and comment at the end. When Ken got up to speak, not one heckler found a way to interrupt because he presented the Palestinian case in such clear and unassailable terms. I learnt a great deal from him.
He was also an early supporter of the LP Black Sections campaign.
Also mention must be made of the way he pulled London together after the Al Qaida bomb attacks of July 2005 which held off racist backlashes and has become a model, not always followed, for cities across the world. He could only do it because so many people in London knew he was on their side. And he did all this while never flinching from pointing out that the 2003 Iraq War and the West’s policies and actions in the Middle East fed terrorism. This is the type of leadership we so desperately need now.
Ken was an extremely charismatic politician who, in my opinion, really loved London.
I voted for him to become London Mayor again when he had the whip withdrawn and he ceased to be a Labour Party member. I really admired Ken and am very saddened to hear that he has dementia.
Socialist hero Ken. Sad news.
Ken is the total opposite in every way of our present so called Labour leader. Also most of Starmers centalists. I met him once at meeting, He was frendly charming funny and articulat. One of most wicked persons of cause, was John Mann.. A nasty vindictive man , His assault on TV of Ken Livingstone calling him anti semitic was utterly disgraceful.
I wish ken all the best. Take it easy Ken you deserve it.
I thought he went badly wrong on a number of issues starting off with his support for the bombing of Serbia in 1999.
I always loved Ken, and one of the biggest disappointments of his time as Mayor was his failure to have the ‘Fares Fair’, policy up and running as it was overturned, as I remember , in court, by the denizens of Bromley. All the issues of heavy traffic, pollution and the health problems accruing from it could have been avoided.
Dementia is horrible and all my sympathies go to him and his loved ones.
I second the comment above that we need to find a way of saluting Ken for his immense contribution to fighting for a socialist alternative in London and beyond. He pitched up recently at Asa Winstanley’s book launch (Weaponising Anti-Semitism) in familiar genial and combative form – but also noticeably (and typically?) not seeking any special attention. His political achievements by far outweigh his flaws and his cultural vision offered a different model of social democracy from the norm. In a world with such a short memory, let’s remember and re-consider what was achieved (and not) in his time, honour and wish him well.
He was brave, forward looking, egalitarian, uncompromising and Thatcher hated him. The GLC was an unwieldy beast which he honed to his left wing policy driven leadership. He achieved good things and irritated many. A perfect politician.
A principled decent man imbued with socialist principles who made a massive difference to millions of people in London and beyond.
I am sorry to hear that Ken Livingstone has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease. Ken is a man of courage and integrity. He was one of a handful of Labour MP’s who supported the right of Irish people to self-determination in the early 1980’s. I remember him speaking at our annual rallies calling for justice for the families of the Bloody Sunday. His invitation to Alice McElwee ( mother of Hunger Striker Tom McElwee) to County Hall in August 1981 took place during a period when anti -Irish racism was rife. His support for political engagement with Sinn Fein and for the release of the Birmingham Six and Guildford Four meant a great deal to the Irish community at the time. Ken was also a very popular Brent East Labour MP. I used to do his surgeries sometimes when he could not be present . They were always packed with people whom he had helped in the past and who trusted him to support them again.
I’m so sad to hear about Ken. I lived in London when he headed the GLC. I always felt he protected those of us who were queer from the horrors of life under Thatcher and made us feel safe and validated. Later as Mayor he introduced a London-based Partnership Register for same-sex couples. It had no legal status but paved the way for nation-wide civil partnership and eventual legal marriage. I’m now happily married because of Ken’s initiative. He literally changed my life and I will always be grateful.
Most Independent sources quote the following stats on Fare’s Fair (that originate with Ken biographer John Carvel)
“In 1982 car use in London dropped by 10%. An extra £48m fare revenue came in and tube usage went up 44%, bus usage rose by 14%. These were the greatest increases in the 52 year history of London Transport.”
Buses Magazine similar state
“Travel on London Transport rose as a result from 5.5 million to 6 million passengers a day and car journeys fell”
the GLC’s anti racism working party was a great step forward in promoting this aspect of equalities. what ever mistakes ken may have made this was not one of them. thanks ken.
Under Ken the GLC’s commitment to equalities meant my friend got training on computers while most workplaces were run by men who never let women have the sort of training needed to be equal at work. It was this practical approach that meant we women (and other groups discriminated against) could get ahead – a whole culture shift that spread to many london boroughs and beyond.