- guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 21 March 2000 01.47 GMT
The former GLC leader - who has been suspended from Labour party membership for standing as an independent candidate for mayor of London - took just one minute to tell colleagues he was sorry for not making a comprehensive declaration of his earnings.
Mr Livingstone made his statement from the back corner of the back row of the government benches - the most difficult part of the house for TV cameras.
It prompted his leftwing critic and fellow London MP, Stephen Pound, to call it "the most grudging apology since the emperor Hirohito" apologised for Japan's role in the second world war. Mr Livingstone was "not so much Dick Whittington as a fat cat", he said - though there is little evidence that it has yet hurt his Teflon candidacy.
Mr Livingstone's appearance had the effect of overshadowing another initiative from his main rival, Labour's Frank Dobson, who is struggling to overhaul the Brent East MP's daunting popular lead by persuading London voters that the mayor's job is "a serious challenge", not a joke.
To generate funds for the capital's poorer neighbourhoods - which do badly from the distribution of national lottery funds - the ex-health secretary announced plans to raise at least £50m a year from a London lottery.
He promised that voters would get a chance to say how the lottery would work - a daily draw or a weekly £1m one, for example - and how profits should be spent.
Mr Dobson suggested they could include affordable homes for teachers and nurses, as well as skills training for young people and CCTV cameras for crime-ridden areas. The lottery is justified because local services in London cost more than elsewhere.
As usual Mr Dobson took a sideswipe at the front runner when he told reporters that his rival's plans for congestion charges of up to £5 per car per day do not add up and they would "throw London's transport system into chaos" - and not generate the funds to cover Mr Livingstone's many promises.
Later Mr Livingstone made his apology at the customary hour, 3.30pm. He told MPs: "When I was first elected to the house in 1987, I checked with the authorities that income from earnings paid into my firm Localaction Ltd did not need to be individually declared in the register.
"Following the new code of practice, I wrote in 1996 to the parliamentary commissioner for standards to clarify the position. My outside earnings then developed in such a way that my registered entry was no longer adequate.
"I ought to have made a comprehensive entry covering all the services I provide through Localaction, but I did not in fact do so.
"As soon as possible after the issue was raised with me by the present parliamentary commissioner, I amended my entry in the register in accordance with the rules."
As usual during personal statements the remarks were heard in total silence.
The Dobson camp admits the underhand way in which the £158,000 non-declaration was put in the public domain has deadened its impact, but believe voters are realising Mr Livingstone is "just another politician, not Robin Hood".
