topic 1.2: Mayor censured over Nazi jibe row

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4262833.stm

This article is about the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone. He was being interviewed by Oliver Finegold, a Jewish reporter for the Evening star. Livingstone accused Finegold of being a 'concentration camp guard'. He has been asked to apologise for his actions, but the mayor will not apologise: he still agrees with what he said, and if he would say he was sorry, he would be a liar. The Standards Board for England is investigating the complaints and has the power to suspend the mayor for a year or ban him from public life for five years if he is found guilty of misconduct.

I think it is a big mistake if you say things like that. First of all to a Jewish person, who will be offended by remarks like that. Second, you should not say it, especially if it is to be published in a newspaper. Third: Livingstone is the mayor of London and has a great social influence and is a man of high standing, and therefor should not say things like these at all. I can imagine that he felt unhappy during the interview: journalists are not always nice people (I speak out of experience: I studied journalism for a year), and especially the British press can be quite strangling and pushy. But still, referring to the Second World War in this context, especially comparing Jewish persons to Nazi's, that is going way to far. I think it would set a good example if the mayor would be banned or suspended.