Despite widespread calls urging him to say sorry, defiant Mayor Ken Livingstone has again refused to apologise for comparing a Jewish journalist to a "concentration camp guard".

In a statement issued at his weekly press conference this morning, the mayor said he would "stand by" his Nazi jibe made to a reporter.

The Mayor was expected to show regret for the remarks he made to an Evening Standard reporter, which he has admitted were offensive.

Instead Mr Livingstone again attacked the Daily Mail group, which owns the Standard.

The Mayor said: "Whilst the Daily Mail group no longer smears Jews it is only because they have moved on.

"They have moved on and now describe asylum seekers and Muslims in similar terms."

Mr Livinstone's defiance comes after the Standards Board for England, a local government watchdog, started to investigate his conduct.

Tony Blair, Holocaust survivors, Jewish leaders, all five parties on the London Assembly, a range of Labour MPs and the National Union of Students have all urged him to apologise.

The mayor's defence is that the Daily Mail and its sister paper, the Evening Standard, has carried out a long campaign against him.

He has also urged people to compare his record of support for anti-Semitism and racism against newspaper bosses.

He added: "A week ago I said it was not my intention to apologise to the Daily Mail group journalist or his employers.

"Upon a further week of reflection in which I have read everything written in the press about this controversy and after considerable debate with many Londoners I have decided to stand by that position."