Ken Livingstone has refused to comment on his verbal tirade against Hammersmith and Fulham Tories during which he told one councillor he should 'burn in hell with your flesh flayed by demons for all eternity'.
Labour's mayoral candidate launched his attack on Councillor Peter Graham, who confronted Mr Livingstone after he had told an 'Ask Ken' public meeting at St Augustine's Church in Fulham Palace Road that all the borough's Tory councillors should be jailed for their plans to knock down the West Kensington and Gibbs Green Estates.
Mr Graham, ward councillor for Fulham Reach, approached the former Mayor after the meeting, asking him to confirm if he'd 'meant to call me a criminal', to which Mr Livingstone replied, 'Oh yes. I think, frankly you should all go to prison for what you're doing in this borough', before adding: "... I think it's what Shirley Porter did, and you're destroying lives, and you should be ashamed of yourself. And if there's any justice you will burn in hell and your flesh will be flayed for demons for all eternity."
Mr Livingstone is known for his controversial remarks which he often claims are said in jest, but Mr Graham doesn't believe that was the case this time.
He said: "I couldn’t believe he had described us as crooks, so I went up to him afterwards – but far from apologising, he went on a rant. It certainly didn’t come across as a joke.
"What kind of person talks about flaying flesh? It’s disgraceful from someone who wants to be Mayor of London."
Mr Livingstone refused to elaborate on his comments but MP Andy Slaughter, who wasn't at the meeting, insisted they would have been light-hearted and said Mr Graham had overreacted.
Just hours before his rant, Mr Livingstone had conducted a mild-mannered interview with the Chronicle in which he talked about tuition fees, the super sewer and the subject which later irked him, the controversial plans of the council to knock down some of the borough's housing estates.
Speaking at the public meeting, he compared the council to the illegal 'gerrymandering' reign of Dame Shirley Porter in Westminster.
He said: "I suspect this bunch of crooks running Hammersmith can’t have put it in writing, but they’re doing exactly what Porter did, cleansing working class people out of the borough when they are supposed to represent all classes, and everybody who lives in the borough."
Mr Graham said Mr Livingstone was wrong about the council's housing policies, adding: "We want to give tenants brand new homes in the areas they are living in now."
