Millbank plots to veto bid for mayor bid

A TELEVISION interview broadcast five months ago in which Ken Livingstone listed six "mistakes" made by Tony Blair's government may provide the "silver bullet" which kills his hopes of becoming Mayor of London.

Officials at Labour's Millbank headquarters believe that resurrecting Mr Livingstone's criticism of the Government will enable the party to veto him from the shortlist of Labour candidates on which London party members will vote at the end of this year.

Interviewed on BBC2'sNewsnight programme in February, the left-wing Brent East MP said Labour made a mistake by promising not to raise income tax rates at the 1997 general election. "What I would like to see is an increase in national insurance contributions, where we gave no commitment," he said. Mr Livingstone claimed the vast majority of Labour MPs believed that it was a mistake to cut child benefit for single parents and to stick to the spending plans the party inherited from the Tories for two years. He criticised Britain for joining President Clinton in military action against Iraq, at the height of the Monica Lewinsky affair. "It looks increasingly it was just done to divert attention from Clinton's domestic problems," he said.

Mr Livingstone also suggested the incoming Blair government was wrong to cut corporation tax paid by companies and to hand control of interest rates to the Bank of England. He said the Bank had "got it wrong" because it had "jacked up interest rates, has most probably tipped us into recession and is now bringing them down.... That's why I wouldn't give bankers that degree of power."

A transcript of the interview will be sent to the London Labour panel which will quiz candidates and draw up the shortlist. The panel, said to be dominated by Blair loyalists, may repeat some of the well- researched questions put to Mr Livingstone on the programme.

He was asked about previous comments, including what he called "the unedifying spectacle of Britain running along behind America, yapping like a demented poodle," and that key government policies did not enoy the support of much of the country or the Labour Party.

The Labour leadership is determined to block Mr Livingstone by declaring him unfit to make the shortlist and has virtually abandoned the idea of trying to defeat him in the London members' ballot. But the "stop Ken" campaign will anger many party activists, and there was fresh evidence yesterday that Mr Livingstone enjoys wide support in the capital's Labour ranks.

BBC Radio 4's Today programme, which interviewed 50 of the 74 constituency Labour chairmen in London, found that 19 supported Mr Livingstone; eight backed Glenda Jackson, the former junior Transport minister; six wanted Tony Banks, the former Sports minister; and five opted for broadcaster Trevor Phillips. Twelve were undecided.

The survey also found that 40 of the 50 local party chiefs said Mr Livingstone should be allowed to stand, with just one saying no. Mr Livingstone said: "This is wonderful news. It shows that even among senior local party officers, who tend to be the most plugged into the Labour machinery, there is a massive majority in favour of my right to stand.

"The fact that this poll also puts me ahead in the race itself is even more heartening. I am sure Labour will listen to this message from the membership."