Race isn't the issue here, Ken - it's money

Thus Mr Livingstone calls the attacks on Jasper a "lynching" and a "racist campaign"; Martin Bright's Dispatches exposé was dismissed as motivated, incredibly, by "Islamophobia"; Trevor Phillips will "soon be joining the BNP".

As the scandals around the Mayor grow, what's been notable is the amazing mediocrity of the defence put up by Mr Livingstone and his supporters. First Ken denied everything, claiming every suspect payment to Mr Jasper's friends had a "full audit trail" with "chapter and verse on how the money's been spent".

Now, as it becomes clear that statement was not even in the same continent as the truth, City Hall has retreated to the claim that any dodginess represents only "0.05 per cent" of the total; the rest, by implication, being pine-fresh and sleazefree. Perhaps these are just the ones we know about, Ken. And, in any case, are you really saying that £3.5 million of public money doesn't matter? The police, for one, seem to disagree.

Then there's the argument that it's all because of the election. It's not: the scandal of Brixton Base, the one which set us all off, came to a head only a few weeks before the Standard broke the story. Besides, is the Mayor actually trying to tell us that an election is an inappropriate time to examine his conduct in office?

Such transparent wriggling and squirming is harmless, indeed positively fun to watch. But one aspect of the counter-attack is more sinister: the shameless and unscrupulous use of race.

Racism is one of the most serious charges you can make against anyone, and in a city with its fair share of real racists, it should never be abused in this McCarthyite way. But under Livingstone it is racism, not patriotism, that has become the last refuge of the scoundrel.

The target of our investigations is not the black community, it is those organisations around Lee Jasper which cheat the black community. And if you think Mr Jasper or his friends in any way represent the community, I suggest you go down to Brixton and listen to what they say about them.

Many black Londoners of my acquaintance feel insulted by the way Ken can never see beyond their skin colour. Why should they be assumed to place racial solidarity with some City Hall princeling above their concern, as taxpayers and citizens, for the proper stewardship of their money? Over the next few months, Ken will present himself as the great guardian of London's multicultural unity. His unashamed attempt to whip up racial emotions shows that claim to be nonsense.