Tory party members demanded an apology after Livingstone called Conservative MPs hypocrites for criticising homosexuality while secretly “indulging”.
During an interview with the New Statesman, Labour candidate for this year’s mayoral elections spoke about the issue of privacy.
Livingstone, who was the London mayor from 2000-2008, said the public “should be allowed to know everything, except the nature of private relationships.”
He added: “Unless there is hypocrisy, like some Tory MP denouncing homosexuality while they are indulging in it.”
He argued that since Tony Blair became Prime Minister, being gay had helped Labour MPs’ careers.
He said: “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.”
Livingstone also said he wouldn’t be watching The Iron Lady – a film depicting Margaret Thatcher’s experience of dementia – calling the former Tory Prime Minister “clinically insane”.
He said: “I do not want to feel sympathy for her. I feel sympathy for the people whose lives she destroyed.”
Conservative MPs voiced their outrage, with Angie Bray, MP for Ealing Central, saying: “These are the sort of offensive remarks we hear all too often from Labour’s candidate for mayor.
“Ed Miliband should condemn these outrageous comments and get him to apologise immediately.”
Livingstone defended his comments, saying that the Conservative party used to be “horrendously homophobic”.
He added that his statement about Thatcher was a “standard” joke he’d been making for years.
“I’ve always made that joke and I’ll carry on doing it,” he said.
