Questionable deputy, Shambolic mayor

For the Union Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 07:28:18 PM GMT Print-friendly version Facebook

Ray Lewis, Deputy Mayor of LONDON has resigned with immediate effect due to allegations of serious corruption.

24 hours earlier, Boris - the clown-mayor of london stood side by side with Mr Lewis and expressed FULL CONFIDENCE in his sleazy deputy. The allegations included sexual impropriety. (the tories favoured form of sleaze)


 

 




A hammer blow to Boris, but a gut punch to Cameron. Two months is how long the tories took to corrupt city hall. The mayors judgmental is seriously shocking and should be a warning call to all that think the tories have changed. "Do what I say, not what I do!"

tags: , , , (all tags)

Display: Sort:
Questionable deputy, Shambolic mayor | 25 comments (25 topical)

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#1)

by aneurin on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 08:16:40 PM GMT

It should be noted;

1. There is already a post about this see 'Poor Boris'.

2. Ray Lewis did not resign due to any allegations of "serious corruption" but because he'd lied about being a magistrate

3. There were no allegations of corruption at City Hall in the first place, the allegations all relate to Lewis's behaviour some years ago




Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#2)

by swatantra on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 08:25:20 PM GMT

Never trust a man from the 'Religious Right', particularly a former pastor.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#14)

by rwendland on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 09:55:04 AM GMT

Seems he also lied that he did not know he was disbarred from the CofE, as apparently he appealed against the disbar in 2000.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#18)

by NB on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 10:36:43 AM GMT

Sorry that report is completely misleading. Any priest going to another diocese automatically stops being licenced in their original diocese. He simply asked permission to preach in Chelmesford and this was apparently not granted. It is not at all the same as his being on the (appalling) secret blacklist.

This is a real person who has done untold good to young black men. He may be a Tory but he deserves better than lies and smears.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#22)

by rwendland on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 12:09:52 PM GMT

Interesting it is coming from the Daily Telegraph, if it is "lies and smears" against a Tory. They have smart libel lawyers, and they OK's the headline "Boris Johnson's deputy 'knew Church had barred him'". What makes you believe the Telegraph has it so wrong?

Note that Boris has now back-tracked on his promise last week to run an investigation and re-instate Ray Lewis if he was cleared.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#24)

by NB on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 04:23:33 PM GMT

I understand (a bit) how the CofE works.   Re smart lawyers: note the ' ' marks in the headline.  This means they are reporting the allegation that he knew.  I agree it's odd that the Telegraph is falling for lies and smears about a Tory, but perhaps they just want to show some balance :-)


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#3)

by For the Union on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 08:25:41 PM GMT

Poor boris was the allegation. This post is about the RESIGNATION (i.e. admission of guilt and corruption)

If your labour, you should be jumping up and down with joy at the mess BJ has created. The tories have seen london as a staging ground - Cameron is welded to Boris - what brings down one..... 

If your not, then you are a troll and no one really cares what you have to say anyway. :) 


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#6)

by aneurin on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 11:10:27 PM GMT

Your original statement that "Two months is how long the tories took to corrupt city hall" was, as our American friends like to put it, a mistruth. There was no corruption at City Hall, neither were there any allegations of such corruption. Those are the plain facts, and the hope of obtaining political advantage from events should not blind us to such thing little things as truth and accuracy.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#7)

by Free Radical on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 11:19:58 PM GMT

All this bandying around the word "troll" is very wearing...

We may be rightly delighted at any embarassment to Boris, but that doesn't mean that we are not also concerned about getting facts straight.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#4)

by RedRooster on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 09:30:29 PM GMT

What a stunningly arrogant resignation speech.  'If you're a fully paid up member of the hairsplitters convention' was my personal favourite line.

I'm not a Londoner, so this is really my first real view of Ray Lewis, but he comes across as a bully and a bullshitter.  No wonder Boris liked him. 


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#5)

by LabourOutlook on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 09:42:00 PM GMT

The questions remain:

* When did Johnson and Lewis know about the individual allegations (as covered by Tory Troll)

* Is the investigation announced earlier today going to continue and, if not, what would the Mayor say to people who believe that the ending of the investigation is an attempt to cover up facts which may be embarressing to him?

* As Tory Troll mentions, why is it that "the 'enhanced' checks, which are routinely carried out on people working with young people, were not undertaken by City Hall before offering Lewis the job."


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#25)

by NB on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 06:10:10 PM GMT

a. Johnson didn't know about these allegations - the Diocese has withdrawn the claim that he was told after Lewis was appointed. Lewis denies knowing about them.

b. No. But what facts might be embarassing to him?  Lewis was a highly respected citizen running the Guardian Charity of the Year and praised by Ken and Gordon as well as Tories. His active patron was the Archbishop of York. How could anyone possibly have known that another Bishop would leak decade-old confidential information in a smear campaign?

c. Because Lewis was already cleared to work with young people in the EYLA.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#8)

by jkitleft on Fri Jul 04, 2008 at 11:26:27 PM GMT

Tbh, I don't care. The biggest scandal of Boris' tenure as mayor thus far, was doubling bus prices for the poorest 130,000 Londoners.


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#9)

by lastword on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 10:34:01 AM GMT

Absolutely.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#20)

by Anonymous X on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 11:05:35 AM GMT

A scandal which, distressingly, I can't recall reading any mention of in the national press.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#23)

by jkitleft on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 01:59:57 PM GMT

I wrote a piece about the media recently.

Lets put it like this: affordable housing will help those most who don't buy papers. Housing scandals are perpetrated by property developers, who do buy papers, and are more likely to be in bed (literally or not) with media barons. So that's why not even the centre-left papers mentioned Ken's £4 bn for housing. Or Boris' plans to only help the top 20% with housing.

On the contrary, benefit scandals will only be perpetrated by a tiny minority of the poor.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#10)

by FreedomAndTruth on Sat Jul 05, 2008 at 07:42:48 PM GMT

I have just seen a pic of Boris in a pink stetson. This a few days after him telling us that we should ignore a fellow human being beaten up.

What is it going to take to get a sense of decency back in British politics?


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#12)

by rwendland on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 12:44:30 AM GMT

Hah. I see the Mayor's website still has Ray Lewis listed as a Deputy Mayor, and still claims he is a "Justice of the Peace"! Quick off the mark - not.


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#13)

by lastword on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 07:44:57 AM GMT

Boris really needs to sort his team out.  What the hell is Guto Hari being paid all that money to do?  You'd think pulling Lewis off the website would have been the first thing they did.


[ Parent ]

Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#15)

by swatantra on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 11:46:05 AM GMT

No he didn't fire Lewis instantly; he stood shoulder to shoulder with him at that Press Conference. He only fired him when he discovered that Lewis had lied about being a Magistrate and the Home Office supported taht evidence. The Independent Inquiry is a complete waste of time; Lewis lied on his CV and his disreputible past actions are enough to preclude him ever coming back.
Johnsn hasn't a clue about running a large organisation and should resign and save Londonners the embarassment of having to 'impeach' him in a years time or incompetance.


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#16)

by jkitleft on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 12:49:28 PM GMT

I couldn't care less about how Lee Jasper decided to spend 0.00000000001% of the budget. People didn't even know the scandal. But all the electorate needed to know was the name Lee Jasper, and that was enough to say Ken was corrupt. I much rather care about how Boris is spending over £100mn on helping the top 20% with housing costs. Not the bottom 20%, the top 20%. Contrast this with the £4bn Ken was about to spend on affordable housing.


Re: Corrupt deputy, Shambolic mayor (#17)

by snowflake5 on Sun Jul 06, 2008 at 05:48:17 PM GMT

BTW - for those interested in London matters (and we all should be as there are loads of marginals in London), there is a Labour blogger called Tory Troll, who keeps abreast of all things London. Definitely worth a read. If Conservatives think they can run London without close scrutiny they have reckoned without this guy and Dave Hill.


Re: "Corrupt" deputy, Shambolic mayor (#19)

by NB on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 10:44:26 AM GMT

No-one has ever made an allegation of corruption against Lewis, and certainly not relating to his time in City Hall.  And if the CofE really thought he was bad, how come the Archbishop of York is chief Patron of the charity he founded??

Attack Johnson by all means but Lewis is one of the few people who is actually doing something about the problems of young black boys in London and deserves better than lies and smears.


Re: "Corrupt" deputy, Shambolic mayor (#21)

by swatantra on Mon Jul 07, 2008 at 11:39:20 AM GMT

The problem with 'black boys' is the lack of male role models in the 'black family', and that basically means fathers. And its not a problem pecular to just to 'black' families, but goes much wider than that, and until more stable family units are encouraged, built up, and supported, then the problem will not go away.


[ Parent ]

Re: Questionable deputy, Shambolic mayor (#26)

by Bobsterama on Fri Jul 11, 2008 at 11:41:49 PM GMT

"The allegations included sexual impropriety. (the tories favoured form of sleaze" Wel I must admit, I am a Tory and sexual impropriety is indeed my favourite form of sleaze. I so much prefer it to Labour's favourite, which is telling lies in order to start wars. Credit where its due, though. Quite a few of your boys have managed sexual impropriety in addition to their warmongering duties (John 'chippolata' Prescott springs to mind).


Questionable deputy, Shambolic mayor | 25 comments (25 topical)