Boris Johnson has been attacked for his insensitive comments on race before – notably by Doreen Lawrence and in a Compass report earlier this year.  But last week Johnson told the Standard that the criticism “in no sense represented the community”.

Today’s New Nation undermines that claim.  They have interviewed a wide range of prominent people and the resulting article is damning.  Here are a few of the quotes:

Playwright Kwane Kwei Armah: “I find his quotes offensive and retrogressive”.

Comedian Angie Le Mar: “I can’t believe anyone thinks what he said is acceptable in any circumstances.  It’s disgraceful.”

Rapper Akala: “It’s a shame that anyone who basically sounds like a member of the BNP is running for office.  I feel sorry for him because he’s unintelligent, let’s not think that because he’s white and speaks with a posh accent he’s clever.  He’s simply not”.

Former Boxer Lloyd Honeyghan: “What he says does not surprise me.  What you’ve got to understand is that people who’ve held us down for hundreds of years can’t suddenly hide their past.”

Christian leader Joe Aldred: “His whole language smacks of a bygone age and I think it’s quite inappropriate in this day and age in which we now live – especially this type of racist view”.

This all makes a story in the Mirror today even more important.  That paper reports that David Cameron is under pressure to distance himself from Boris, but is refusing to get involved in the row.

Former chair of the Commission for Racial Equality Lord Herman Ouseley, who wrote to Cameron, is quoted saying, “Your failure to clearly distance yourself and the Tory Party from these grossly offensive statements only serves to compound the concerns of London's black communities about your party's commitment to tackling racism.”