Ken: That party and me

Ken Livingstone today spoke for the first time about his role at a drunken party that ended with a guest sustaining serious injuries after plunging 15 feet into a basement.

In a dramatic statement issued in front of the London Assembly, the Mayor attempted to refute allegations surrounding his conduct at the party held to celebrate the 40th birthday of his partner Emma Beal's sister Kate.

The Mayor set out to deny that he "assaulted" one of the guests, 35-year-old Robin Hedges, that he manhandled Ms Beal, and that he disappeared before the arrival of police.

Mr Livingstone tried to maintain the whole story was an attempt by the Evening Standard to smear him with a view to getting a Conservative mayor of London elected. In response to his statement, a spokesperson for the Standard said: "We stand by our report, carried in last Friday's editions.

"We conducted a thorough investigation and spoke to a number of eyewitnesses.

"It is nonsense to suggest the story was published for political reasons."

The Mayor's unprecedented statement followed the Standard's revelation he had been present at the party when Mr Hedges fell, leaving him with severe head, neck and hip injuries.

Concerns were raised when a number of guests came forward to give their version of events. Evening Standard launched a full investigation and traced a number of eyewitnesses.

They said the Mayor had been involved in a series of tussles after becoming agitated about his pregnant partner smoking.

In his statement, Mr Livingstone does not deny claims he was drunk, involved in a series of tussles or was involved in events leading up to Mr Hedges' fall. Nor does he deny claims he shouted abuse at partygoers.

He makes no mention of whether he spoke to police or ambulancemen about the condition of a friend of his partner's who was lying unconscious in a stairwell.

Mr Hedges, a journalist on ES Magazine, has been off work for more than four weeks and remains on painkillers.

Ken Livingstone claims the Evening Standard has made three "untrue" allegations against him and additionally accuses the paper of smearing him so that a Tory Mayor could be elected. We deny all his claims. Here we analyse his statement.

The Mayor says:

"The first allegation is that I assaulted somebody. This was dealt with in a statement by the individual, Robin Hedges, who said: 'The simple fact is that I attended a 40th birthday party in Tufnell Park Road during which I had a fall and injured myself. It is false to suggest that anyone else was involved - it was an accident. It is highly misleading and unfair to imply anything else.'"

Fact: The Evening Standard stated that Mr Livingstone was involved in a "drunken tussle" with Mr Hedges. We have stated that he was involved in a tussle with Mr Hedges seconds before Mr Hedges fell 15 feet over a wall leaving him unconscious and needing urgent medical attention.

Fact: Mr Hedges, who is an employee of the Evening Standard's ES magazine, told this paper: "It was a horrible business and I'm still trying to get over it and come to terms with what happened both mentally and physically. Emma (Beal) is my closest friend and I don't want to do anything that might upset her."

Fact: Intriguingly the statement attributed to Mr Hedges - which was not signed - was sent out by Mr Livingstone's press office at the GLA.

The Mayor says:

"The second allegation is that I manhandled my partner Emma Beal. This story led to a story in the Evening Standard suggesting that Women's Aid had criticised me." Mr Livingstone then quotes Nicola Harwin, the director of Women's Aid, claiming the allegations "are without foundation". He then quotes Ms Harwin as saying: "We are also extremely concerned that our name and views have been misrepresented by someone who is not authorised to speak on our behalf."

Fact: Mr Livingstone does not confront the allegation that he manhandled his partner Emma Beal after drinking at the 40th birthday party.

Fact: The person quoted by the Evening Standard, Rosemary Jackson, IS in fact a leading member of Women's Aid, as the charity has now admitted to us in a letter.

Fact: The views of Rosemary Jackson quoted in this paper - "for any man to manhandle a woman is bad enough, but for someone in a high-profile role like that of Mayor it is even worse because of the kind of message it sends out to the public. I think he should be sent on an anger management course" - have not been misrepresented and were on the record. For that reason this paper has not printed any correction.

The Mayor says:

"Finally the Evening Standard has accused me of 'disappearing before the arrival of the police' following Robin Hedges's accident. This charge has been levelled twice by the Standard and is also untrue. In fact I did not leave until after both the police and the London Ambulance Service had arrived."

Fact: Eyewitnesses contradict Mr Livingstone. They have rold the Evening Standard he did leave the scene of the incident after he initially tried to rouse Mr Hedges, saying: "Get up. You're all right mate." He did not remain at the injured man's side as he lay in the basement of the flat next door to the party and he did not speak to police or ambulance-men, eyewitnesses say.

Fact: Mr Livingstone did not mention the fact that the London Ambulance Service received a call from the party saying a fight was in progress nor does he explain why police were called to the scene.

The Mayor says:

"The Evening Standard has made the accusations because it has set itself the goal of getting a Tory mayor of London elected. Evening Standard knows it cannot achieve this goal on the grounds of policy and is therefore resorting to unfounded personal smears. It is now clear from this and other recent coverage that the Standard will spend the next two years pursuing this agenda in order to get a Tory imposed on London."

Fact: The Evening Standard backed Mr Livingstone's right to run for Mayor and printed leading articles saying so publicly. The paper has also publicly endorsed several of his policies.

Fact: At no stage has the Evening Standard made this story a party political issue.