Talk:Ken Livingstone

Opening of this article

To me it reads like the opening salvo in an attack piece at the moment. Rather than saying much about Livingstone's background, it opens by simply lists all the controversies:

He has been a supporter of communist regimes in Cuba and Venezuela and an opponent of New Labour, and of Gordon Brown's economic policies (having said in 1998 that "Gordon is not up to his job ... Britain is now heading towards a recession entirely of Gordon's making"). In a 2007 interview, he praised the fundamentalist Islamic cleric, Yusuf al-Qaradawi. He has attacked the policies of Israel's government, and has been suspended from office for comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard. However, his limited powers as Mayor gave him little opportunity to give effect to those views, and his performance as Mayor has been generally regarded as satisfactory.

A reader will conclude the following about CZ from placing this so early and strongly in the article: we are anti-communist; we are anti-Muslim; we are pro-Israel. It even subtly suggests that, given the chance, Livingstone would use his position to advance Communism, Islamic fundamentalism, anti-Semitism, and action against Israel ("...give effect to those views."). It requires considerable re-balancing, with the controversies integrated into a larger piece covering his political career. I would move it down, but a big deletion will considerably alter the scope of the article, so I leave it open for others to comment. John Stephenson 15:49, 29 October 2010 (UTC)