Ken Livingstone has remained defiant over his Hitler Zionism remarks, claiming Jewish voters misunderstood him.

Interviewed on Sky News, the former Mayor of London was asked by Adam Boulton: “Do you accept that in Barnet you may have cost the party control?”. Mr Livingstone replied: “If anybody believes I said Hitler was a Zionist, yes.”

Mr Livingstone, 72, who is currently suspended from the Labour Party, referenced Hitler seven times in the interview. He repeated his claim that “Zionists did a deal with Hitler in the ‘30s. They collaborated.”

Watch the interview below:

Ken Livingstone defends his assertion that Hitler supported Zionism and says that he has been smeared #Election2018 pic.twitter.com/5v8TnuYarf

— Sky News (@SkyNews) May 4, 2018

He described the coverage of his comments as attempts by “the Tory press” to “demean” him, adding: “It always gets you into trouble if you tell the truth.”

Mr Livingstone called the antisemitism row in Labour a “distraction” in the local elections and added: “I’m not going to my grave with this issue remaining unresolved. How can you be suspended for stating historical fact?”