Could he be much more of a c***?

[stressederic]

Ken Livingstone, ladies and gentlemen.

 

Livingstone's China Gaffe

Updated: 12:50, Monday April 10, 2006

 

London Mayor Ken Livingstone has opened himself up to another controversy - this time for comparing the Tiananmen Square massacre to the poll tax riots.

 

The outspoken politician was in Beijing as part of a fact-finding mission following the award of the 2012 Olympics to London.

 

Beijing is hosting the 2008 Games.

 

Mr Livingstone was asked about standing on the site of the bloody 1989 crackdown against pro-democracy supporters, in which up to 3,000 people are thought to have died.

 

He said: "In the same way that Trafalgar Square has had an interesting history, not always a peaceful one, there's a very clear parallel.

 

"We've had some interesting riots in Trafalgar Square - I mean, only 20 years ago, the poll tax riots, and flames licking up."

 

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It was pointed out that no one had been killed in the 1990 poll tax riots and that the police had not used tanks.

 

But Mr Livingstone replied there were other historic parallels between the UK and China.

 

"If you go back to some of the early instances you will find many cases where innocent protesters were hacked to pieces with sabres," he added.

 

He mentioned the Peterloo Massacre - in which 11 protesters were killed in Manchester in 1819 - and said: "There is no such thing as one country with a perfect record."

 

It is the latest in a series of controversies involving Mr Livingstone.

 

He has been criticised for comparing a Jewish reporter with a concentration camp guard, and telling two half-Iraqi Jewish businessmen to "go back to Iran".

 

Sky News

[Des]

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[matty]

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