Pic:Ken Livingstone has called for 'about a dozen' Labour MPs to be suspended
Political reporter(wp/es):
Former Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has called for a group of Labour MPs to be suspended for deliberately undermining leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Mr Livingstone, a close ally of the party leader, named London MPs Chuka Umunna and Wes Streeting among the “about a dozen” of MPs who he believes should be suspended.
The veteran Labour politician is himself currently suspended from the party over alleged anti-Semitic comments.
Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live just days after Mr Corbyn issued a plea for party unity, Mr Livingstone called for the removal of "disloyal" MPs.
"Those that have been most over the top I think should be suspended," he told interviewer Emma Barnett.
He also called for the reintroduction of automatic re-selection of MPs, a move which could see centrist politicians in the party removed by grassroots Corbyn supporters.
“I think the other thing that Jeremy should do is re-introduce automatic re-selection. It's really ridiculous that MPs in safe seats have a job for life.
"I'm particularly talking about Chuka Umunna, Wes Streeting - basically it's the same group of MPs who were screaming that I'd said Hitler was a Zionist and I was anti-Semitic.
"The moment that issue went on hold, they were then blaming Jeremy for Britain voting to leave (the EU). Just endless criticism. It's only about a dozen of them.
"The simple fact is they are consciously undermining Jeremy and damaging the Labour Party."
Mr Livingstone said he expected to lose his disciplinary hearing next week on his suspension from the party, and indicated he will take Labour to court if that is the result.
The comments which led to his suspension took place on the Vanessa Feltz show on BBC Radio London, when he referred to Hitler’s policy of moving Jewish people to Israel as Zionism.
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