Channel 4 film attacks Ken Livingstone's 'astonishing and shocking drinking habits'

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Ken Livingstone has been filmed allegedly swigging whisky at official meetings.

TV documentary footage is said to show London's mayor drinking in City Hall at 10am while in session with London Assembly members.

He is also alleged to have been seen repeatedly drinking "an amber liquid" at a question-and-answer session with voters in Ilford on October 25.

An undercover reporter for Channel 4's Dispatches managed to obtain a sample of the liquid and the programme says scientific analysis showed it was 47 per cent alcohol.

After the alleged City Hall incident - on November 14 - the undercover reporter told the mayor: "You must be punch drunk after that."

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Red and amber: Ken Livingstone allegedly knocks back whisky at a meeting at Ilford Town Hall in a still from the Channel 4 documentary

Mr Livingstone is said to have responded: "It's the whisky that keeps me going, otherwise I just cough."

Channel 4 claims Mr Livingstone's behaviour is a "clear breach" of the Greater London Authority's code of conduct, which says staff should not "knowingly take any nonmedical substance, including alcohol, in the building that may affect their ability to work".

The Dispatches team say they observed Mr Livingstone drinking on two occasions.

The first was at a "People's Question Time" event at Ilford Town Hall in East London on October 25 attended by 600 people.

Mr Bright says: "I went down to Ilford Town Hall and was shocked by what I saw."

After stating that Mr Livingstone was drinking "from a glass containing an amber liquid and he repeatedly drank from this glass during the evening."

The reporter is then filmed outside the town hall and says: "We noticed that the Mayor was clearly drinking some substance other than water and we have been able to ascertain that at this very public event he was swigging whisky throughout. I find it quite astonishing."

Unknown to Mr Livingstone, as the meeting ended a Channel 4 reporter, though not Mr Bright, had secretly poured some of the liquid remaining in the Mayor's glass into a separate container.

Channel 4 says the liquid was taken to Somerset Scientific Services Laboratory in Taunton, which said it was 47 per cent alcohol, stronger than most whiskies – although some are as much as 60 per cent proof.

The programme also shows Mr Livingstone holding a glass of amber liquid at a "Mayor's Questions" session at London's City Hall on November 14. The monthly meetings start at 10am.

Mr Livingstone is said to be seen drinking whisky while listening to a London Assembly member, Tory Tony Arbour.

After the meeting ended, an undercover reporter managed to get into a lift with the Mayor as he left. Channel 4 says Mr Livingstone took his glass with him.

In the lift, the reporter asked: "You must be punch drunk after that?" Mr Livingstone is said to have responded:

"It's the whisky that keeps me going, otherwise I just cough."

Channel 4 footage of the two meetings was obtained from a video from the Greater London Authority, which broadcasts many of its meetings on the internet.

Asked about evidence that Mr Livingstone had a large glass of whisky during a meeting at his City Hall HQ, London Liberal Democrat MP Lynne Featherstone says:

"No, it's not really acceptable but Ken gets away with the unacceptable – that is Ken.

"I think there's a difference between having a glass of wine in the reception room before you go, which I'm sure Ken would handle perfectly alright. It's the, how many drinks (sic).

"He would often have a drink at Mayor's Question Time. He would say it was medicinal purposes because it was in the morning. I have met him in the lift with whisky in hand before noon."

Mr Bright observes: "People's Question Time was at seven in the evening, but when facing questions from the London Assembly at a meeting that started at 10 o'clock in the morning on November 14 last year, the Mayor is seen drinking whisky while listening to Assembly member Tony Arbour's question."

The film claims Mr Livingstone's behaviour is a "clear breach" of the Greater London Authority's code of conduct.

It says staff should not "knowingly take any non-medical substance including alcohol in the building that may affect their ability to work".

It continues: "The exceptional use of alcohol can only be signed off by, amongst others, the Mayor himself."

Mr Bright says: "At times the Mayor seems to be a law unto himself."

Mr Livingstone's spokesman said: "No more credibility should be attached to Dispatches smears against the Mayor of London than to their previous programmes denying the reality of climate change and denying the link between HIV and Aids.

"Both of these programmes were broadcast by Channel 4 without regard to the harm such pseudo-scientific nonsense could cause.

"We have pointed out to Channel 4 in the clearest possible terms that the allegations against Ken Livingstone, in the hatchet job on him by journalist Martin Bright for Dispatches, are equally ludicrous."

Asked on London's LBC Radio last week if he had a drink problem, Mr Livingstone said:

"Well, I'm concerned about the amount I'm drinking because it's nothing like enough. I should imagine I get a couple of glasses of wine down me at any reception.

"I suspect I most probably drink about half of what I did when I was an MP. A couple of bottles of wine a week in total. I'd like to drink a lot more.

"When this programme goes out on Monday, it's all just the old rehashed charges that we've had over the last few years."

Gordon Brown defended Mr Livingstone last night, saying: "He has a proven record of success and I think that's what people are looking at – and as he puts forward proposals such as making housing more affordable for young Londoners and improving the quality of life for Londoners. That is how people will judge him."

A spokesman for the mayor said the allegations were ludicrous.

Dispatches is on Channel 4 tonight at 8pm

 

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