Soon after Ken Livingstone emerged –smug and gloating – from the hearing that had just ruled taunting Jews with the spectre of Adolf Hitler is perfectly compatible with Labour Party membership, I was contacted by a Labour MP.

‘What do you want us to do?’ he asked. ‘They don’t give a damn about what we say or do. Front-bench resignation and no confidence motions didn’t work. What’s left? Leave the party and they win. My constituents lose.’

He’s a good, dedicated MP, who is implacably opposed to Jeremy Corbyn’s rule, has spoken out frequently and publicly against him, and steadfastly refused to take the Shadow Cabinet shilling. And he’s now destroying his party.

Ken Livingstone was seen out walking his dog wearing a T-shirt displaying Jeremy Corbyn as Che Guevara. The former London mayor was suspended from the Labour Party last night

Not Ken Livingstone. Not Corbyn or his ermine-clad gofer, Shami Chakrabarti – but the good, dedicated party members who are letting Labour drift to destruction.

It’s important to understand what happened on Tuesday. Livingstone was found guilty. He was not acquitted. The panel did not fall for his crackpot, alt-Left ramblings. They found he had brought Labour into disrepute with ‘prejudicial’ and ‘grossly detrimental’ comments. Then they shrugged and said: ‘See you next year.’

This is what the Labour Party does now. Not just the Livingstones and the Corbynites, but the decent Labour members. Where once they raged against intolerance and prejudice, now they shrug it off. Yes, some will voice an objection. Or write a letter. Or send a tweet saying how ‘sad’ or ‘troubling’ it all is. And then they will move on. ‘Right, let’s get back out on those doorsteps!’ they say to one another, in their comradely way.

Unless you’re a Jewish comrade, of course. Some have said Labour is now a racist party. And they’re right. But it’s not just a racist party; it’s an apartheid one. Jews are tolerated, but only as second-class citizens. Imagine if a Labour member casually used the word ‘Paki’. Or accused ‘the blacks’ of being responsible for the slave trade. Or toured the airwaves claiming radical Muslims were Nazi collaborators. Retribution – rightly – would be swift and sure. But use those same slurs against Jews – ‘Zios’ is the favoured phrase – and you will be punished only with the Labour shrug.

Institutional racism is now so embedded within Labour that if it weren’t so disgusting it would be comical. Remember, this is the party that saw the publication of its whitewashed report into its own anti-Semitism disrupted by one of its Jewish MPs being abused.

Many Labour members have told me how difficult they have found things in the wake of the Livingstone verdict. ‘We have to stay and fight,’ several have said. No, you don’t. You have to leave. And this is why.

Mr Livingstone has repeatedly refused to apologise for his Hitler rants despite Mr Corbyn ordering a new inquiry into his behaviour

When decent Labour members say ‘Ken Livingstone is not who we are’ they are deluding themselves. Livingstone is not an aberration; he is Labour royalty. Whenever he stands for the party’s ruling executive, he regularly tops the poll. And when he returns, he will top it again. If good people remain, they are facilitating Labour’s racism. ‘Not in my name’ is a noble sentiment. But not only is it being done in their name; it’s being done with their cash.

They are also acting as facilitators in a political sense. Corbyn has secured one genuine achievement: the size of the Labour membership. And every time he points to it and his chest swells with pride, it is inflated by Labour members.

Then there is the ‘stay and fight’ canard. Staying and fighting is fine. But the opposite is happening. Not fighting. Not rocking the boat. Not giving Corbyn an internal target he can use to define himself, and mobilise his followers.

The former mayor looked forlorn as he took his golden labrador for a walk near his London home today

That is the strategy of Labour moderates. Ferocious acquiescence. It is not good enough. Not when confronted with the evil of anti-Semitism.

This weekend, Labour members – yes, the good, decent members – have been out asking people to vote for their party in the local elections.

Think what it means to ask someone to vote Labour after what we have seen this week.

‘Hi, I’m from Labour. We officially tolerate anti-Semitism. Will you please support us?’

Mr Livingstone, known as 'Red Ken', has insisted he does not 'see what all the fuss is about' after 100 MPs and peers protested about him not being banned from the party

The party that once argued for zero-tolerance of racism is now asking people to close their eyes to racism. Close their eyes, and mimic the Labour shrug.

Imagine if those efforts bear fruit. ‘What does it say about our country?’ Labour activists wailed after the Brexit vote. Well, what will it say about the country if it embraces the party of Ken Livingstone?

This should not be a ‘difficult’ time for Labour. It should represent a moment of piercing clarity.

Labour membership has become morally unjustifiable, at least for as long as Ken Livingstone holds the same membership card.

So, let’s return to the question: ‘What should we do?’ This. When you say ‘not in my name’, mean it. If you’re in the Shadow Cabinet, stop acting like a 1980s pop star headlining Sun City, and leave. If you’re a Labour MP, resign the whip. If you’re a Labour member, cancel your membership. Then pledge clearly and unequivocally you will not return until Ken Livingstone has been expelled. Because if you don’t, one day soon you will be asked: ‘When they came for Jews, what did you do?’ And your response will be to shrug.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd has won plaudits among her colleagues for her cool esponse to the recent terror attack in Westminster. And I’m told she’s now preparing a new crusade – against what she views as the evil of ‘pensioner abuse’. ‘Amber’s view is that people who target the elderly need to be put in the same bracket as people who abuse children,’ a friend tells me. I’m told that she’s in discussion with Theresa May about launching a new initiative around this later in the summer.

Jeremy Corbyn’s initiative to impose VAT on private-school tuition fees caused a temporary panic among his colleagues. ‘A couple are thinking they might want to send their own kids private,’ an MP informs me, ‘and they were worrying it might affect them. Then someone said, “Look, it doesn’t matter. We’re not going to win the Election, so what have we got to worry about?” ’ If Labour gets an unexpected polls spike, watch for the policy to come ‘under review’.