London, UK - Furor As London Mayor Calls US Ambassador "Crook"

London, UK - London's mayor, already fighting suspension for comparing a Jewish journalist to a concentration camp guard, landed in fresh hot water for likening the U.S. ambassador to a "chiseling little crook.".

Mayor Ken Livingstone has been quarrelling with the U.S. embassy since last year, when it announced it would not pay the "congestion charge" fee imposed on cars entering the city center.

The embassy says the charge is a tax and that diplomats are immune under treaty.
Livingstone says the charge, one of his flagship policies, is a road toll which diplomats have to pay.
"It would actually be quite nice if the American ambassador in Britain could pay the charge like everybody else and not skive out of it like some chiseling little crook," the mayor said.