A SHAMEFUL FARCE !

Before I start, let me make it quite clear that I have no time for Ken Livingstone - not for his political views or his public persona. But his being suspended from the Labour Party for a comment he made yesterday, is just ridiculous, and smacks of a shameful witch-hunt to me!

In defending his fellow MP, Naz Shah, for her silly twittering two years ago (now her comments are a different matter entirely!) he remarked that, in 1932, Adolf Hitler was in favour of Zionism (the right for Jews to have their own homeland). He added, "Before he went mad!"

Ken has now been accused of being 'anti-Jewish'. A racist. There are even some who want to see him summarily expelled from the Labour Party.

For heaven's sake, get a grip!

I'm getting fed-up to the back teeth of these stupid word-pouncers, who hone-in on every sentence uttered by someone in the public eye, trying to find some offence.

Remember David Cameron's 'swarm of refugees'? An unfortunate choice of word, perhaps. But we don't accuse anyone saying 'a swarm of bees' as being anti-bumbles!

Some historians say that Livingstone is wrong in his assertion of Hitler's views in 1932. That may be so, but it makes no difference ! Even if he is wrong, that still doesn't make him anti-Jewish. Or a racist.

Imagine this . . . Boris Johnson says publicly, on the radio that in 1932 Winston Churchill was anti-Jewish - until he saw sense. Would Boris be suspended from the Conservative Party for saying this? Of course not! Would he be accused of being anti-establishment? Anti-Gentile? I doubt it. Because those labels don't make any sense, in light of what he said ! He might well be called an ill-informed idiot, but there wouldn't be the baying for blood that Ken Livingstone is undergoing at the moment.

This is a country where Free Speech is valued perhaps above all our other freedoms. Let's keep it this way. We don't want to live in a country where our politicians, people in the public eye - or anyone else for that matter, have to measure and weigh every word they utter for fear of losing their jobs.

We don't want to live in a country where people are frightened to speak out.

If we go down that road, we are in danger of losing not only our right to Free Speech, we are in danger of losing the most important thing of all . . .

THE TRUTH !