Ken Livingstone: Riddle Me This

Did you know Ken Livingstone hates The Gays?
Although in the last thirty years he's almost certainly done more for the LGBT community than any other British politician, apparently he's a fifth columnist who's despised us all along.
I found out this today from some of our tireless and long-standing allies, the Tories.
Late this afternoon the New Statesman published on its website some extracts from a forthcoming interview with Ken Livingstone.
As ever, he is frank and often funny whether talking about Boris Johnson, Margaret Thatcher or Rupert Murdoch.
But the interviewer, Jemima Khan, also brought up his "private life".
A pulled quote reads;

"We [Boris and I] both have five [children]. I can admit to all mine.
"[The public] should be allowed to know everything, except the nature of private relationships - unless there is hypocrisy, like some Tory MP denouncing homosexuality while they are indulging in it."

Pressed by Khan about his use of "Tory MP", Ken responds:

"Well, the Labour ones have all come out... As soon as Blair got in, if you came out as lesbian or gay you immediately got a job. It was wonderful... you just knew the Tory party was riddled with it like everywhere else is."

Fagburn agrees with all that.
But apparently he outed himself as a secret homophobe by using the word "riddled".
Riddlegate - as no-one calls it - seems to have begun around 5pm when Sophy Ridge tweeted one line from the piece - "Ken Livingstone on Tory MPs not being open about being gay: "The Tory party was riddled with it like everywhere else" - and a link to the NS.
Who is Sophy Ridge?
She's a political reporter on Sky News.
Oh, and she used to work for the News of the World - a now defunct tabloid not exactly known for its support for gay rights or the Labour Left.
In fact, Fagburn seems to remember them regularly attacking Livingstone over his support for gay rights.
Things blew up when this was picked up by Guido Fawkes (he gives a nod to Ridge) - a Tory blogger not exactly known for being pro-gay (his readers are often brazenly homophobic - have a look at the comments after the post).

Ken's Gay Gaffe

"With his usual tact Ken has told the New Statesman that he believes the Tory party "used to be riddled with it like everywhere else". What was this it. Gay people?
"There is never much doubt how people feel when they use the expression "riddled", but for the avoidance of that let's see what the dictionary says:

'Riddled: Fill or permeate (someone of something), esp. with something or someone), esp. with something unpleasant or undesirable.'

"Guido has to wonder how this is going to play at the LGBT London for Ken fundraising dinner in March."

You may have noticed the "quote" from Ken is getting shorter and shorter.
According to BBC News; "Angie Bray and Mike Freer, Tory MPs in London, wrote to the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, urging him to ensure Livingstone's remarks were retracted. Bray said: "These are the sort of offensive remarks we hear all too often from Labour's candidate for mayor."
Purely in the interest of balance here are some in-no-way offensive remarks by Boris Johnson; "Slowly Labour is winning the battle it really cares about, the Kulturkampf, adjusting what can be said, and what cannot be said… Homosexuality is to be taught in schools." The Spectator, April 29th, 2000.
"If gay marriage was OK – and I was uncertain on the issue – then I saw no reason in principle why a union should not be consecrated between three men, as well as two men; or indeed three men and a dog." Friends, Voters, Countrymen, 2001.
A spokesperson for Ken Livingstone said; "Ken is clearly saying the advance of lesbian and gay people into politics is unequivocally a good thing.
"He has fought for equality for gay and lesbian people throughout his life, and the fact they are represented in all major political parties is a sign of the progress that has been made."
All of which is as obvious as rain - unless you're a complete idiot or a right-wing goon with an agenda.
This is the most stupid, hypocritical, irrelevant manufactured outrage Fagburn can remember since the last one.
How ironic that the last part of Ken Livingstone's New Statesman interview reads:

What is your greatest boast?
"That I am still here after 30 years of unremitting media hostility."