To the shock of many inside and outside the British Jewish community, as well as MPs within the Labour Party itself, two-term Mayor of London Ken Livingstone was suspended as opposed to expelled from his party for a year on Tuesday evening, under the charge of having brought it into a state of disrepute.

The decision marks the end of a saga that began on 28 April 2016, in which whilst defending Naz Shah, an MP who had at the time been suspended from the party over accusations of anti-Semitism on social media, he stated “Let’s remember, when Hitler won his election in 1932 his policy then was that Jews should be moved to Israel. He was supporting Zionism.”

Livingstone’s comments, made in reference largely to the Haavara Agreement of 1933 agreed between the Nazi regime and several Zionist organisations, have been widely disputed by historians across the board.

Livingstone’s hearing, held behind closed doors before the Labour Party’s National Constitutional Committee (NCC), began last week on Thursday 30 April, spilling over into the following week as no decision could be reached last Friday.