Afternoon:
14°c
In a world of uncertainty and fear, how comforting it is that some things never change. The spring flowers will always appear in Hyde Park; the buses (and the traffic lights) will always be red; and Ken Livingstone will always be on LBC, blaming everything on Boris.
The format is simple. Banks crumble, gunmen strike, the earth moves on its axis; but Ken's show focuses, laser-like, on the issues that really matter - such as, say, the unconscionable decision by a certain mop-headed London politician to amend the Freedom Pass school dinner guarantee reserve scheme for male OAPs over 95 in the borough of Bexley.
Callers ring in, pleading to talk about something, anything else, but are ruthlessly swept aside by sentences beginning: "You know, when I was Mayor ..." With his endless reminiscences of a glorious past, not always fully appreciated by his audience, Ken is British politics' answer to Uncle Albert from Only Fools and Horses.
Last week, listeners had a particularly special retro treat. Ken's guest was one Lee Jasper, his former equality adviser, who got half an hour to proclaim how he had been "cleared" of all wrongdoing by the police and how the allegations against him and his friends - involving the disappearance of £3.5 million of City Hall money - were "simply evaporating into the morning mists". There was "no evidence" for anything, Ken chipped in.
If the pair of them actually believed that, they will be disabused by our news story today that at least two of Mr Jasper's acquaintances have been recommended for prosecution; that one of his friends withdrew at least £20,000 in cash from a cash machine near his home, and has now left the country; and that four of the original six police investigations are still very much live.
True, Mr Jasper himself has never been arrested. But political wrongdoing does not have to be criminal. Most of the great scandals (cash-for-questions, Shirley Porter) have not been. Mr Jasper, it will be recalled, did have to resign after leaked emails showed him proposing to "honey glaze" a woman to whose projects he had given £450,000 of City Hall money.
Mr Jasper was never accused of anything criminal. By talking of the police, he is "clearing" himself of a charge that nobody ever made. The charge against him is not that he lined his own pockets - but that he allowed his friends and business colleagues access to your money, then protected them as they lost it. The real investigation he ought to fear is the parallel one that, as we also reveal today, has been launched by the District Auditor. That will be interesting.
Ken's decision to have Jasper on his show was even more interesting. He rightly recognises the scandal as an obstacle to his wish to be Labour's mayoral candidate in 2012. But he has chosen to get round it by simply trying to rewrite history, pretending that it was all just a pack of lies concocted by his media enemies.
Whenever anyone says this to me, I simply ask them to name a single one of the Jasper stories that was untrue. They never can. I ask them why neither Ken nor Jasper has ever complained about any of the stories. They fall silent.
Ken's approach symbolises his broader tactic of denial - to admit no error, no failing, no mistakes in his defeat last year. It was the voters that were wrong, not him. In Francis Beckett and David Hencke's superb new book about the tragedy of the miners' strike, they show how Arthur Scargill's self-delusion allowed a vicious Tory government to destroy whole communities. To this day, just like Ken, Scargill says that if he had the battle over again, he wouldn't change a thing.
Thankfully for the cause of pluralism and competitive politics, many other members of the London Labour Party do not want to go down to another glorious, Scargillite defeat in three years' time. They see no reason why Ken should be any fresher or more popular in 2012 than he was in 2008. They agree that he does generate huge enthusiasm - but even greater antipathy. They think he is Boris's dream opponent, and they are probably right.
They accept that Ken did do better in London than Labour did in England as a whole - but point out that he still lost. They also believe that it is an act of denial to compare all England - which has almost never been Labour - with London, which was substantially Labour until four years ago.
Hence, over the past couple of weeks, the launch of a highly significant development in London Labour politics - an embryonic "Stop Ken" campaign. Last night, in a Westminster committee room, several of the key members gathered. Mr Livingstone's own campaign manager, Tessa Jowell, said: "When the people of London chose who to vote for, they did so for a reason. It is us, not the voters, who need to change."
Steve Reed, Labour leader of Lambeth council, said: "If we'd concentrated on crime [during the campaign] instead of climate change, talked about the things that really matter to voters, we could and should have a Labour mayor of London now." Nick Raynsford, MP for Greenwich, wasn't there last night but also believes Livingstone's defeat was "self-inflicted". Ken's supporters often like to see any attack on him as an attack on the Labour Party itself, but these people are not leader-writers for the Daily Mail. They are Labour.
There is only one way Ken could get round the Lee Jasper obstacle, and all the other obstacles that denied him re-election. He could accept that Jasper and the rest were real, that they told Londoners something true about his mayoralty, something many of us didn't like. He could express regret, even apology, promise to change.
At the moment, however, that looks about as likely as a similar mea culpa from Gordon Brown. London is in for a long few years of the old warhorse, re-fighting old battles, with all his old baggage.
Reader views (11)
What's going on in the world? What is the man in charge doing? What shall I wear to today? What is the meaning of life? ...oh hang on, what's Ken up to? I must know, I must, I must, I must! In the words of others, "I agree wif Gilligan, it's all Ken's fault".
- Jj, London
Hopefully he will never be allowed to have any position of power again!
- Duncan Walker, Ex Peckham now Thailand
Livingstone just hasn't got a "radio" voice - the monotone in the ends stops any message getting through, and I imagine he repels more people than he attracts.
There was always something odd aboutr the return of Livingstone return to the Labour fold - he disliked Blair, Blair disliked him - then he suddenly became sort-of new Labour himself, praising people like Ian Blair and Cressida Dick to the hilt. I think at the end Livingstone lost support because people couldn't perceive what the real KL stood for.
- Graham, Ilford Essex
Why on earth is this bit of detritius being given air time on a quality radio station !! ??
- Rb, London
I don't know a single person who wishes to listen to the continuous, embittered whining of this socialist has-been. Ken; just go and fade away peacefully. Nobody is remotely interested in you
- Ali, London
The political correct labour failed and turned their backs on the white working classes, by putting the so called ethnic minority first and treating them as the victims for past wrong doing by this nation. Truth is the working classes and now the middle classes have found out that people like Red Ken and Co are all HYPOCRITES. There's more to come on polling day when the political correct Labour will be lucky to win any seats at all. We have had enough of political correction and the same message goes to the Tories and Lib Dems. They are all out of touch with the real world !
- Joe, Swanley Kent
Like all politicians Livingstone is only interested in feathering his own nest. The best advice is to stop listening to his shows and hopefully LBC won't renew his contract.
- Emily, London
For the sake of us all, give it up. Just give it up.
- Craig, London
Andrew let it go, he lost. Time to move on I think.
- Mat, London
Let's not give Ken any oxygen of publicity - the one thing failed politicians like him crave.
- Thomas, London
I don't know who is right or wrong.
However, Ken Livingstone did invite Andrew Gilligan to either call in or come into the studio, for an equal amount of time Lee Jasper had, and put forward his point of view.
I think Mr Gilligan should take up this offer.
- Martin Rosen, London, UK
