Livingstone vents his fury as his bid to rejoin Labour fails

Ken Livingstone warned yesterday that Labour in London faced a "highly damaging split" after the party's ruling body refused to allow him to rejoin its ranks.

In its closest vote since Tony Blair became leader, the National Executive Committee voted by 17 to 13 block Mr Livingstone's readmission to the party. The Prime Minister himself took the unusual step of voting to ensure the retention of the five-year ban imposed on the former GLC leader for running as an independent in the London mayoral election two years ago.

Downing Street underlined its nervousness about the vote when it rang wavering members of the NEC hours before to persuade them not to back Mr Livingstone.

To head off the possibility of civil war in the London Labour Party, the NEC also agreed to consider a compromise plan to urge the public to vote for Mr Livingstone as their second preference for Mayor of London.

The vote on the former GLC leader's future came as the Queen officially opened London's new, ultra modern City Hall next to Tower Bridge on the Thames.

In his most hectic day since he won office two years ago, Mr Livingstone also attended the High Court to hear his challenge to the Government's public-private partnership of London Underground.

The day began for the Mayor at 9.15am when he left home to catch the Tube to his spectacular new offices, designed by Sir Norman Foster and Partners.

Just as he arrived at the building, his political future was being decided about a mile away at Millbank Tower, where the NEC gathered for its most important monthly meeting in years.

Members argued forcefully for and against Mr Livingstone's readmission. Dennis Skinner, normally the left-wing troublemaker of the committee, led the calls to block the Mayor, while constituency representatives and some trade unionists called for the members in the capital to decide the issue.

John Prescott, the Deputy Prime Minister, made no secret of his belief that Mr Livingstone could not be trusted to obey party rules in the selection process. Crucially, evidence quoted against the former Labour MP was that he had announced as recently as 3 July on Radio 4's Today programme that he would run in the 2004 mayoral elections whether he was readmitted or not.

As the debate raged, Mr Livingstone was in altogether more sedate surroundings as the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh arrived at the glass and steel structure of City Hall. The Mayor was the epitome of establishment courtesy and protocol as he nervously read out a speech welcoming the monarch.

Mr Livingstone was guiding the Queen around the panoramic top floor of the building when the news of the vote from Millbank reached him. "17-13," said one aide. "Bloody 17-13".

A visibly shaken Mayor gathered his thoughts before entering a press conference alongside fellow mayors from Paris, Berlin and Moscow. Mr Livingstone could not hide his acute disappointment, staring into the middle distance as his colleagues spoke in their respective languages about his magnificent new premises.

When asked for the Queen and Prince Phillip's reaction to the day, Mr Livingstone cracked his first proper joke of the proceedings. "They had no position on the Labour NEC," he said, to laughter.

But there were no smile as he attacked the ruling body for "riding roughshod" over the wishes of London Labour Party members. "It creates the risk that London's vote will be split and that only helps the Conservative Party. I will do my best to ensure that does not happen," he said.

Outside the confines of the press conference, Mr Livingstone was much more vitriolic. When asked by The Independent why the NEC and party leadership had voted against him, he replied: "'As the dog returneth to its vomit, the fool returneth to his folly.' That's my favourite quote from the Bible and it applies now."

After the press conference, the Mayor attended a reception organised by the corporate sponsors of the opening. Mr Livingstone then headed for the High Court to hear his legal challenge to the PPP. A small gaggle of supporters cheered him as he entered court Number 3 to hear the minute detail of Transport for London's claim that the Government's procurement of private firms was unlawful. By the time he resurfaced, Charles Clarke, Labour's chairman, made clear that the compromise plan for the mayoral election could ensure minimum blood-letting despite the day's events. But Nicky Gavron, the Mayor's Labour deputy, wasted no time in declaring she was now a candidate for the party's mayoral nomination.

Mr Livingstone then returned to City Hall before going out for dinner at 7.30pm with the Mayor of Berlin and and Deputy Mayor of Moscow. Ken's Big Day ended just after midnight when he arrived home, still an independent.