Should Ken Livingstone apologise?

[Caligula]

Well? What d'you think?

He's such a T£@t, who has revealed himself to have petulant childish side since he took public office but I'm sure the Labour party knew that for years

I'm not saying what he said should be condoned at all - I'm just saying that forcing someone to apologise is a waste of time if they're not actually sorry -and he obviously isn't

that's fair enough tommy, it's so obvious when people don't mean an apology, but he should have some sense of responsibility and respect for the public office which he represents. Over the years it has become increasingly obvious that he doesn't

Yes, I'd only like him to apologise if he meant it. What is the point of getting someone to say something they don't mean? It is a bit redolent of Stalinist Russia.

(I'll probably be shot down now for carrying comparisons too far!)

But apologies are only worthwhile if they are heartfelt.

I think he's an @rse - always have done - but I also think he is largely irrelevant outside London - not quite sure why he garners such massive media attention.

Cos he sells papers!

The Evening Standard made him into a star twenty years ago by dubbing him Red Ken, and now he's still living off that image, even though he's a member of a governing party to the right of Ted Heath and he's introduced a road tax which is in principle a poll tax on wheels - what's left wing about that? Interesting how they feed off each other, the media and their subjects.

Ooh, can feel a rant coming on. Will stop now, before rant starts!

precisely, he still thinks he is an enfant terrible

don't get me started on what he did (not) do for public transport in London - very glad he doesn'r govern me any longer

Not to mention, why isn't he at home with his new(ish) baby instead of out getting drunk and insulting reporters. Hardly a mature responsible attitude you'd expect from your model citizen and father.

Message withdrawn

I'm not particularly fond of Ken, so in a way I'm glad he did something to get negative press. And, what a bloomin' idiot he is. How could someone in public office say something so rude... and not even have it occur to him that it was offensive.

If Ken is thrown out (okay, just dreaming about it) do you think he could take his congestion charge with him?

I don't think he should apologise - why bother if he doesn't feel sorry ? in fact, I think the reporter should apologise for taking intrusive photos of everyone at that party - it's only because it was a party full of left wing gays and lesbians that the paps were there at all as far as I can see, no doubt after a ' Ken splashes out for filthy queers' angle as is their wont. As for the terminology well, the words ' storm' and ' teacup' do keep emerging. People frequently refer to bullies and megolomaniacs as ' Nazis' without stopping to ascertain if they are Jewish or indeed German - I bet every single person on this thread has at some time or other, without conducting a careful survey beforehand. Sorry but I really have no sympathy with ambulance chasing paps who thrust cameras into people's faces and hound them, rifle through their bins etc..
As for the congestion charge I hear it is to be raised to £8 - way to go Ken!!!!

It was a publicized party. If they didn't want the press there, why make it public? It had nothing to do with the fact that they were gay. The whole point was to celebrate the coming out of a prominent gay. You can hardly come out if no one knows about it. In other words, it was a party to celebrate the attention of the media and as a result it would be a bit disingenuous to expect the media not to show up.
Of course, I'm sure that many of us have made comments that turned out to be offensive to someone. But most people, when made aware of the fact that they have offended someone, then apologize, or at a minimum, stop saying what it is that is considered offensive. Ken was not able to even do the bare minimum which most people would expect of their 2 year olds - that is, apologize for something that you are told is wrong, even if you don't quite get why it's wrong.

EVERYBODY has to apologise for EVERYTHING these days - why should Ken be any different?