Ken backs, er, something
The front page headline in last night’s London Lite was “LIVINGSTONE BACKS TERRORIST’S TUBE JOB”. The front page of Thelondonpaper screamed “ANGER AS KEN BACKS TERRORIST”. The story? A man convicted of terrorist offences in Yemen, and son of Abu Hamza, was allowed to work on the London Underground because security checks didn’t look at overseas offences. Did Mr Livingstone “back” the man at all? This is what he said:
“In this country a person cannot be sacked for what their parents do. It is the actions of Mohammed Kamel Mostafa himself which are relevant [...] However, Mr Mostafa has convictions in Yemen. These must be taken into account. They should have been brought to light by those doing the security checks - the failure to do so must be investigated. As he failed to declare these to the subcontractor they are correct to dismiss him.”
That’s courtesy of The Guardian, which has the somewhat more sober (page 15) headline “Livingstone calls for investigation over lack of checks on jailed cleric’s son”.
