Tony Blair today called on Ken Livingstone to apologise for likening a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard.
The Prime Minister stepped into the row that has engulfed the London Mayor and threatened to overshadow the visit of International Olympic Committee inspectors to assess London’s bid to host the 2012 games.
“Let’s just apologise and move on - that’s the sensible thing,” Mr Blair said while answering questions from the public on Channel Five’s The Wright Stuff programme.
“A lot of us in politics get angry with journalists from time to time, but in the circumstances, and to the journalist because he was a Jewish journalist, yes, he should apologise,” Mr Blair added.
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Mr Livingstone failed to respond immediately to Mr Blair’s call. A statement from the Mayor’s office said that “he was not making further comment on this issue at the present time as he was dealing with the IOC visit”.
It repeated his insistence yesterday that he despised anti-Semitism “with the same virulence” as all other forms of racism.
Asked yesterday if he would apologise if the Prime Minister required it, Mr Livingstone appeared truculent. He said: “He (Blair) has no intention of making me Foreign Secretary and we have our respective roles.
“I am not going to apologise if I do not believe that I have not done something wrong. I am not going to appease media pressure by lying.”
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The row comes in most crucial week for London’s 2012 Olympic bid. Inspectors from the International Olympic Committee are in the capital to evaluate the city’s £25 million campaign.
Supporters of the bid now fear that the Mayor’s refusal to apologise for his remarks is distracting attention from the four-day visit, which concludes with a dinner hosted by the Queen at Buckingham Palace.
The Times has learnt that some members of the London 2012 team have privately expressed disappointment at Mr Livingstone’s behaviour.
Tessa Jowell, the Culture Secretary and Cabinet minister responsible for the Olympic effort, is among a growing number of politicians dismayed by Mr Livingstone’s conduct. A senior official in the Culture Department said last night: “This is carrying on much longer than we would have hoped. We would not want this sort of distraction in such an important week.
“We would rather it would not have happened at this time. The Secretary of State has already said if you lose your temper it is good to apologise.”
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Sir Gerald Kaufman, chairman of the Commons culture select committee, said that the remarks could tarnish the Olympic bid. “With Madrid disfigured by the recent Eta terrorist atrocity and Paris potentially handicapped by what Muslims regard as France’s anti-Islamic prejudice, London really has a chance to shine. Will Ken’s lippy remarks tarnish that sheen?” he said.
However, Lord Coe, the head of London 2012, said last night that the row would not jeopardise Britain’s chances. He said that the IOC team was here to examine the technical aspects and “will certainly not be deflected from anything else”.
Asked if Mr Livingstone should apologise, Lord Coe said: “I am not a serving politician. I’m chairman of the London Olympic bid for 2012. I do not think it is my place to advise him.”
But the Culture Department source added: “The Secretary of State knows that the IOC can tell the difference between a domestic spat and so does not think this will damage the bid.”
The fear of the bid team is that every stage of the visit, which will include trips to the proposed Olympic park on a 500-acre plot in Stratford, East London, will be hijacked by the ongoing row over Mr Livingstone. The 13-strong team is due to meet Tony Blair and Mr Livingstone in Downing Street on Friday.
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There is a growing furore among leading politicians and Jewish organisations. Lord Moynihan, the Shadow Sports Minister and Olympic silver medallist, claimed that the mayor had harmed Britain’s chances of staging the Games.
“The London mayor is the key figure. As the mayor of the city he represents the bid as his signature is attached to all the 2012 documents,” he said.
“The disgraceful racist abuse of black English players at the soccer friendly in Spain in December did untold damage to Madrid’s 2012 Olympic hopes. This is a serious matter which will do the bid no good particularly as the Olympic committee is here. The mayor should apologise. He should have done so already.”
Kate Hoey, the former Labour Sports Minister and international athlete, said: “The mayor has behaved in a typically arrogant way. He should realise that if he wants London to win the bid he should swallow his pride and say sorry.”
Mr Livingstone said at a packed press conference at City Hall: “You can make the case my remarks were offensive and that they may be actionable and may have recourse in law, but you can’t make the case they were racist.”
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He is refusing to give a written reply to the London Assembly until after the Olympic team had left.
The IOC committee is here to analyse the technical side of the bid and to gauge public support for the staging of the Games in Britain for the first time since 1948.
Officials close to the IOC said that while their prime objective was to study plans for the stadiums, transport and security, they will have concerns that the mayor of a potential host city is accused of anti-Semitism.
A spokesman for the British Board of Deputies, which has made the complaint to the watchdog body the Standards Board for England, said: “The mayor’s comments are damaging to London. He should apologise.”
Mr Livingstone could be suspended from public office for up to five years if the complaint is upheld.
Mr Blair later said he did not think the mayor should resign if he refused to apologise. “I don’t think it’s like that. I am quite sure he did not mean anything remotely anti-Jewish or anti-Semitic about it at all, but it’s a remark that can cause offence to people and it’s best, if that happens, just to accept that, apologise and move on,” he said.
“It’s difficult sometimes in politics but occasionally you have got to know when to say sorry and that’s the only way of dealing with it.”
Mike Lee, London 2012 communications director, said the Livingstone affair had not been raised at today’s IOC meeting. “It was not mentioned at all this morning. It played no part in the proceedings,” he said. “The mayor gave a very good speech about his commitment and London’s commitment to 2012 and his commitment to invest in East London. He received a very warm response.”