Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone Diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease

THE GUARDIAN: The retired 78-year-old former MP is ‘being well cared for’, his family announced

Former London mayor Ken Livingstone, whose family have announced he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA
Ken Livingstone, the former Labour MP and mayor of London, has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, his family has announced.

The 78-year-old is being “well cared for by his family and friends” as he lives a “private life” in retirement, they said in a statement to the PA news agency.

It said: “In response to media enquiries, the Livingstone family today announce that Ken Livingstone, ex-MP for Brent and former mayor of London, has been diagnosed with and is living with Alzheimer’s disease.

“Although a previously prominent public figure, Ken is now retired and lives a private life. He will no longer be available for any media interviews or requests and we will not be responding to any media questions or enquiries.

“Ken is being well cared for by his family and friends and we ask you for your understanding and to respect his privacy and that of his family.” » | Nadeem Badshah | Wednesday, September 20, 2023

'We've Been Lied To about Russia for Decades' - Former London Mayor, Ken Livingstone

President Putin has delivered the annual State Of The Nation address - highlighting the challenges facing Russia and the rest of the world.

Brexit Fallout May Tear Both UK and EU Apart - Ken Livingstone

Ken Livingstone’s Favourite Islamist Spreads Jew-hatred in Gaza
TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – ALAN JOHNSON: “Our whole ambition is to die on the path to Allah… I am sure we will conquer” said Ken Livingstone’s favourite Muslim cleric, Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, as he touched down in Gaza on Wednesday for a three day solidarity visit. Before he left on Friday he told a Muslim Brotherhood rally that Israel had no right to exist. The rally was the scene of mass chanting of "liberate Palestine … from the sons of monkeys and pigs".

If all that was depressingly predictable, less so, was the range of voices opposed to Qaradawi's cult of death.

Yes, Israel, of course. After all, Qaradawi’s Jew-hatred is undiluted and canonical. Listen to him (from Fatawa on Palestine):

We believe that the battle between us and the Jews is coming … Such a battle is not driven by nationalistic causes or patriotic belonging; it is rather driven by religious incentives. This battle is not going to happen between Arabs and Zionists, or between Jews and Palestinians, or between Jews or anybody else. It is between Muslims and Jews as is clearly stated in the hadith. This battle will occur between the collective body of Muslims and the collective body of Jews i.e. all Muslims and all Jews. (p. 77)

Qaradawi does not deny the Holocaust, he celebrates it.

Throughout history, Allah has imposed upon the [Jews] people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Hitler. By means of all the things he did to them – even though they exaggerated this issue – he managed to put them in their place. This was divine punishment for them. Allah willing, the next time will be at the hand of the believers.

No camouflaging anti-Semitism as “anti-Zionism” there! Read on and comment » | Alan Johnson | Monday, May 13, 2013

Ken Livingstone Loses London Mayor Race

Ken Livingstone Quits Mayoral Debate Over BNP Participation
THE INDEPENDENT: Ken Livingstone has pulled out of a BBC mayoral election debate after it emerged a British National Party candidate would be taking part.

The former London mayor said it was a "point of principle" that he would not share a platform with the far-right party.

Labour's candidate also told BNP voters he did not want their second preference votes when they get to the ballot box in next month's vote.

The debate, due to be hosted by BBC London 94.9 on Monday, is the latest in a series of head-to-head mayoral broadcasts but most have featured just the top three or four candidates.

Mr Livingstone said: "I have long held to the belief in no platform for the far right. The far right want to destroy our democracy and stand for the elimination of our basic rights.

"They cannot be treated as a legitimate part of politics. » | Sam Lister | Friday, April 20, 2012

British Politicians Betraying Britain, Giving Free Rein to Islam
Ken Livingstone, the British Labour Party's candidate for mayor of London, says he wants to turn the capital city into a "beacon" of Islam.

Speaking to Muslim worshippers on March 16 at the North London Central Mosque, one of the most hardline mosques in Europe, Livingstone pledged that if elected, he would "educate the mass of Londoners" about Islam.

Livingstone, a self-described socialist who previously served as the mayor of London from 2000 to 2008, declared: "I want to spend the next four years making sure that every non-Muslim in London knows and understands [Mohammed's] words and message. That will help to cement our city as a beacon that demonstrates the meaning of the words of the Prophet."


Related »

"I Will Make London a Beacon of Islam"
GATESTONE INSTITUTE – International Policy Council: Livingstone's appeal to Muslims may, on May 3, propel him into the mayor's office. Either way, London appears headed for an Islamic future.

Ken Livingstone, the British Labour Party's candidate for mayor of London, says he wants to turn the capital city into a "beacon" of Islam.

Speaking to Muslim worshippers on March 16 at the North London Central Mosque, one of the most hardline mosques in Europe, Livingstone pledged that if elected, he would "educate the mass of Londoners" about Islam.

Livingstone, a self-described socialist who previously served as the mayor of London from 2000 to 2008, declared: "I want to spend the next four years making sure that every non-Muslim in London knows and understands [Mohammed's] words and message. That will help to cement our city as a beacon that demonstrates the meaning of the words of the Prophet."

Livingstone's electioneering tactic may earn him the support of Muslim voters in London. But by speaking at the North London mosque, Livingstone has also succeeded in reviving long-standing suspicions that he is closely linked to Islamic fundamentalists.

The North London Central Mosque, also known as the Finsbury Park Mosque, has a well-established reputation for being a center for radical Islamism in Britain. The mosque was once controlled by Abu Hamza al-Masri, an Egyptian jihadist who is now in prison in Britain for "instigation to acts of terrorism." The Finsbury Mosque is currently being run by the Muslim Association of Britain, an Islamist organization tied to the Muslim Brotherhood as well as the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

One of Livingstone's main links to radical Islam is through an organization called the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE), an Islamist group dedicated to changing the "very infrastructure of society, its institutions, its culture, its political order and its creed … from ignorance to Islam." » | Soeren Kern | Friday, March 23, 2012


TELEGRAPH – BLOGS – ANDREW GILLIGAN: Ken Livingstone: I will make London a beacon of Islam » | Andrew Gilligan | Monday, March 19, 2012

Londonism and Its Adherents: The Capital's Creed
THE ECONOMIST: Pro-finance, pro-immigration and hungry for investment, London and its politicians have developed an ideology of their own

ONCE the world’s largest port, London’s docklands had become so desolate by the 1980s that Stanley Kubrick used them as a backdrop for his Vietnam war film “Full Metal Jacket”. Thanks to government investment and private enterprise, the area is now a shimmering success story. Canary Wharf, a skyscraper cluster, hosts bankers from around the world. City Airport, opened in 1987, is the easy option for business travel to the continent. The Docklands Light Railway and an extension of the Tube have connected the area to the heart of the capital. The once-derided Millennium Dome is now the busiest music venue in the world.

The docklands are a monument to what could be called Londonism. Since the creation of the capital’s mayoralty in 2000, a distinct ideology has congealed around that office. Some of it is recognisably right-wing: it embraces high finance, even during the banker-bashing furore. Some of it is conventionally left-wing: Londonism calls for state spending on infrastructure and a liberal line on immigration. Essentially, it is a commitment to relentless growth and openness. The city long ago made the transition from mere capital to global hub. Now it has a political philosophy to match.

The two men who have held the mayoralty so far—who are also the main candidates for the mayoral election next year—have been Londonists. Labour’s “Red” Ken Livingstone, who ran the city until 2008, was actually pragmatic about capitalism. He approved private developments and enjoyed surprisingly good relations with the City. At the same time, he used his bully pulpit to ask Whitehall for infrastructure money and an open immigration policy. » | © The Economist | Thursday, February 03, 2011

Islamists Got Voters Out for Livingstone
THE TELEGRAPH: A fundamentalist group which believes in sharia law, jihad and creating an "Islamic social and political order" in Britain arranged an "unprecedented mobilisation" of voters for the former London mayor, Ken Livingstone, at the last mayoral election.

In an election lost by Mr Livingstone, the Islamic Forum of Europe helped secure massive and unexpected swings towards him in its east London heartland.

In one ward, Spitalfields, his vote share rose from 29.6 per cent in 2004 - an election he won - to 68.4 per cent in 2008, a rise of nearly 39 percentage points.

In every other ward in Tower Hamlets and Newham with a sizeable Muslim population, his vote rose by between 23 and 36 percentage points. His vote in other Muslim and ethnic minority areas of London also rose, but by far smaller amounts.

Mr Livingstone's economic development body, the London Development Agency, had agreed to pay more than £1.3 million to the East London Mosque, controlled by the IFE, and described by critics as hardline. >>> Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, March 06, 2010

Ken Livingstone, the Ex-Mayor of London
Ken Livingstone trying to look his Islamic best for a photoshoot.
Hat tip: Pierre of Québec.

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Canada)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback – Canada)

Bouffant Boris, the Unkempt, Eccentric Toff, Wins the London Race!
Photo of Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, the eccentric new Mayor of London, courtesy of Google Images
THE TELEGRAPH: Boris Johnson claimed a remarkable victory in the London mayoral contest on Friday night to cap a disastrous series of results for Gordon Brown in his first electoral test as Prime Minister.

The Conservative candidate's win over Ken Livingstone followed a calamitous showing for Labour at the local elections - the party's worst performance at the polls for 40 years.

Mr Johnson's landmark victory, a result that would have been almost unthinkable six months ago, was the most symbolic blow to Mr Brown's authority on a day that left the Prime Minister facing the gravest crisis of his leadership.

By taking City Hall, Mr Johnson becomes the first Tory politician to hold a senior role in British politics since the party was swept out of power in 1997. His win provided a significant boost to David Cameron's bid for victory at the next general election. Boris Johnson Is the New London Mayor >>> By Andrew Porter and Robert Winnett | May 3, 2008

BBC:
Boris Johnson’s Victory Speech | May 2, 2008

BBC:
The Boris Johnson Story By Brian Wheeler | May 3, 2008

CNN INTERNATIONAL/EUROPE:
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, London's New Mayor Is Eccentric, Offensive >>> | May 2, 2008

LE FIGARO:
Boris Johnson «le bouffon»,
nouveau maire de Londres: L'excentrique candidat conservateur a ravi la capitale britannique au maire sortant Ken Livingstone avec 140 000 voix d'avance. Un échec cuisant pour les travaillistes qui perdent aussi les élections locales >>> | 03. 05. 2008

WELTONLINE:
Neue Konservative sind voll Witz und Exzentrik: Bei den Kommunalwahlen ließen Engländer und Waliser die Labour Partei ganz schön alt aussehen. Premierminister Gordon Brown kommt mit seiner grüblerischen Art nicht an. Die neuen Politstars sind Tory-Chef David Cameron und sein Parteifreund Boris Johnson, Londons neuer Bürgermeister >>> | 3. Mai 2008

NZZ Online:
Britische Konservative feiern den Triumph: Tories streben die Macht in der Downing Street an >>>> | 3. Mai 2008

FRANKFURTER ALLGEMEINE ZEITUNG:
Boris Johnson gewinnt in London: Britische Konservative in Siegesstimmung >>> | 3. Mai 2008

LE FIGARO:
Un échec personnel
pour Gordon Brown: Après moins d'un an à son poste, le premier ministre sort très affaibli de son premier test électoral >>> De Cyrille Vanlerberghe à Londres | 03. 05. 2008

DIE PRESSE:
London: Johnson stößt Livingstone vom Thron >>> | 03.05.2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

London’s Mega Mosque: Al Markaz, London

CBN NEWS:
Make Way for the Meag-Mosque

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

Pat Condell: “More Demands from Islam”

Mark Alexander

A Picture Paints a Thousand Words
Photo of ‘Red Ken’ courtesy of the Daily Mail
Read the full story: Turban-charged Ken defends spending £740,000 of public money on trip to India

Mark Alexander