03 March 2000
After two Labour MPs – Paul Flynn and Audrey Wise – called for Dobson to stand down, Livingstone said that with the election still nine weeks away, the party could afford to take longer to debate the issues he had raised.
He said in an interview with the BBC that the two key areas remained the legitimacy of Dobson's candidature and the unpopularity of the party's privatisation plans for London Underground.
Earlier in the week, Livingstone had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott which was described as 'very comradely', amid speculation that he was prepared not to stand if a suitable deal could be done over the Tube privatisation.
PFmar2000
