You Can't Say That: Memoirs [Hardcover]

So, what was true? What was embroidered? Mmmm.
It was a hard read, turgid in places but the devil is in the detail and I think this is certainly Mr. Livingstone's voice. With the opprobrium heaped upon him I suspect he is an accurate diarist and has been very careful with the names and faces that have crossed his path.

I haven't kept notes reading the text but his portrayal of pliant hacks `obeying orders' out to smear him, reveal not so much a paranoia but more a patient acceptance of the dreks and their employers who confuse investigative journalism with `..has anyone here been raped and speaks English?' There doesn't appear to be any skeletons in his closet and this must frustrate those who can't put him down by debate.

He re-confirms New Labour's image `freakery' and I laughed at his realisation that he was manoeuvred just far enough away to be kept out of camera shot when in the same hall as Blair or Brown. A touch of the `Alastair Campbells' there then.

For someone not educated at `Oxbridge', with a `tick the boxes C.V.' and a dole out the `smarties' PPE degree, [sorry, my despair at the current crop of politicians] he reveals an innate intelligence [`cunning' to his detractors] and a remarkable ability to get on with the common man. I think he senses the basic integrity of people and wants their better nature to prevail. His initial success as an independent candidate for London's mayor confirms this connection.

IMO two episodes stand out. The first relayed to him by Brian Walden after an interview, where Walden admitted that it was only with Enoch Powell and himself who answered every one of his question directly. Whether you agree with him or not is beside the point. I think most people, given time, recognise a fraud [OK, OK so it took a lot of people too long to see through Blair's grin for all seasons] but I don't think Mr Livingstone is one. The second was his speech given after the London bombings; that came from the heart and revealed the passion that must lie below his studied blandness.

Digging through the detail reveals a humanist and a multi-culturalist comfortable in his own skin, though however thick, I suspect he must despair when media hacks resort to personal insult rather than reasoned comment.
I don't share his politics; Marxist group 4 or Communist's `r' Us whatever, but he does put his finger on the long term lack of investment that's given us a service industry and a lack of manufacturing base more prone to violent boom busts than some of our neighbours.

He didn't need to bash Boris; I'm sure Londoners are canny enough to spot someone who cares, who has a passion for the job and wants to work 24/7 for them. Continue to trust the electorate Ken. Argue your record.

Put your political opinions aside, it's a difficult but interesting read.

Oz

Having read Carvel and Hosken's biographies and followed Ken's career over the years I looked forward to this book and wasn't disappointed. So much has been written about Ken that understanding him requires reading his account from the eye of the storm. The book is a big myth buster. Mud sticks but the sewage thrown at Ken, particularly in recent years by the pre takeover Evening Standard gets the treatment. The book is an explanation of how he stayed relevant over the decades while the rest of the left has faded into insignificance. Ken applies left wing principles in the real world without dogma so has survived and thrived while those left wingers of his generation who were once political giants are now forgotten relics. The fact he also incurred the wrath of the left as well as the right shows he's been on the right track over the decades.

The recurring theme throughout the book apart from his love of London is the importance of experience and the mastery of detail. He points out how David Miliband was dominated by his civil service advisers after a short period of 'persuasion'. Miliband of course being another example of the Oxbridge Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree to policy wonk to MP to leadership route. No council experience, no job in the real world, a mass of knowledge and a dearth of experience. Ken points out that Miliband at 41 hadn't learnt the lesson he did at 26 when advisers on Lambeth council manipulated him. I found this quite disturbing, the failure to realise the Sir Humphreys know they'll always be around and see politicians as simply less competent people passing through. John Major's autobiography said the same, he followed the same route into politics as Ken and bemoaned the rise of the inexperienced professional politicians. Ken points out how Boris the grand sweeping statement politician is totally unsuitable for running a complex machine like the London mayoralty. On detail he gives examples of how Boris was repeatedly stumped by questions but would brush it off with a joke and that was it. People moan about politicians but Boris is the perfect example of the people getting the politicians they deserve. I remember in the 2008 election stressing to work colleagues still renting that Boris was dropping the commitment to affordable housing, their response was along the lines of "but he'll be funny".

His account of the Evening Standard's vendetta against him during his second term reignited my disgust. Ken's demolition job on the paper as it then was is one of the most fascinating parts. Inevitably his most withering criticism is reserved for the then ES team as you would expect considering their hatred for him. It seems odd how damaging the ES seemed then considering its editor, Veronica Wadley reduced it from a Rolls Royce paper into a rag worth a quid. Its destruction of Lee Jasper's career and reputation was unbelievable considering the multi angled investigations including that by the police that found no evidence of corruption whatsoever. But it's the oldest political trick in the book, run someone into the ground in the run up to an election. Who cares if it all turns out to be gossip once the election is over? It only matters on election day. This book rehabilitates Jaspers reputation based on facts, not impressions.

Throughout the book I mentally nodded at the plain common sense on offer and would say Kens views mirror my own for the most part. There are some areas where I can't agree. He points out that contrary to the hysterical types like Melanie Phillips Muslims didn't come to Britain to 'turn it into Saudi Arabia with rain'. This is true but I can't agree when he says Muslims come to Britain to be English. He also expresses disgust at Cameron saying that those who want Sharia law should go to another country. To me that's a reasonable suggestion, not frothing right wing territory. However his critique of the west's disastrous approach to the middle east is spot on as is his critique of Blair as a control freak who sucked the life out of the Labour Party and brainwashed himself into believing the 7/7 attacks had nothing to do with it. Blair's clueless talk of the Grunwick strike quoted in here also made me cringe.

Dimwitted Frank Dobson is covered with Ken concluding that the day after he had won the mayoral election he was going to give Dobson a job in the administration. However seeing Dobson on TV still saying Ken would be a disaster he thought "sod it" and left him to fade into well deserved obscurity.

His economics views are presented here in depth and in short could be summed up as Britain should have invested far more like Germany. I always wondered how they seemed to be massive exporters long after conventional 'wisdom' said western countries couldn't do it because labour costs were too high. It's covered here.

His cutting wit is present throughout the book and his finest slap is reserved for Cameron: "From his background of Eton, Oxford and his millionaires enclave at Chipping Norton it may appear as though Cameron feels that multiculturalism forces us to live apart".

The book is too wide in scope to easily dissect in a review and those are the areas that struck me most. Love him or loathe him, if you're interested in Kens career this book will answer many of your questions.

This memoir was an unexpectedly easy read, written with a lightness of touch which meant it didn't sink into just another turgid mass of political anecdote. It was an education for me: I learned far more about the workings of local and regional government from this book than I ever thought I needed to know. And what a canter through the political "names" of the late 20th century; characters whose names I'd forgotten I ever knew peopled these pages along with some we'd probably all prefer to forget!

The book reveals a real human being, not just a cardboard cut-out politician. I've often disagreed with his political stance and I'll probably never forgive him for saddling us with the olympics but I've always thought that KL is that rarity - an honest politician who does what he does because he genuinely believes it's in the interests of those he represents. This book has only confirmed that view. We should treasure Ken Livingstone, he's one of the few people around who have truly made a positive difference.