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Ken: Jasper was wrong but I still want him back
Pippa Crerar, Political Correspondent06.03.08
Ken Livingstone finally admitted today that Lee Jasper had broken City Hall rules.
The Mayor said his former race adviser's sexually-charged emails to a woman involved in organisations which received public funds were "inappropriate".
He admitted he was "disappointed" over the row which prompted Mr Jasper's resignation but failed to back away from his pledge to reinstate him.
The Mayor's staff are governed by a code of conduct which requires them to disclose any "close personal" relationships with groups that receive funding.
Mr Livingstone said: "He breached that absolutely. I'm disappointed... He was wrong not to do that."
It is the first time the Mayor has admitted that Mr Jasper had done anything wrong. However, he insisted he did not regret the faith he placed in his former aide. It comes after his senior economics aide John Ross told the London Assembly yesterday that his former colleague had broken City Hall rules.
In an interview with LBC radio, Mr Livingstone said: "He sent some silly emails, no one disagrees with that, it's very embarrassing. It's clearly not appropriate but that doesn't mean to say that Lee Jasper has had any financial benefit from anything that he's done as my race adviser.
"Before all these emails came out we were dealing with very serious allegations of fraud... He resigned because this stuff is embarrassing. It's not illegal, its embarrassing."
Mr Jasper stepped down earlier this week after The Standard revealed a string of messages sent to Karen Chouhan, the company secretary of the 1990 Trust and director of the Black Londoner's Forum, which received more than £638,000 from the Mayor's office.
At no point did he declare his relationship with Mrs Chouhan or any interest in either
organisation, in clear breach of City Hall rules. She has denied being involved in a sexual relationship with Mr Jasper.
Mr Livingstone said he would appoint an independent lawyer to investigate Mr Jasper's conduct, suggesting that if he was cleared by the police he could be reinstated, despite breaking City Hall rules.
"The police will investigate illegality, these things aren't illegal they're a breach of our code," he said.
He insisted there was "not a shred of evidence
yet" to suggest any criminal wrongdoing-on Mr Jasper's part. The Mayor claimed that a City Hall insider had "stolen" Mr Jasper's computer password and accessed his email account. "Somebody broke into the office and downloaded everything, his City Hall office. So clearly somebody knows how to access and has the computer skills to break it open and get in."
Mr Livingstone claimed he had been subject of surveillance - from either MI5
or the newspapers - his whole career. "I'm sure my phone has been bugged all my life, and my PAs and all of that. If it's not bugged by MI5 it's bugged by newspapers, there's a real little industry of private investigators." He admitted that Mr Jasper's salary had gone up from £40,000 - his pay during the first term - to £120,000 in one leap.
"In the second term, I could see no reason why the people I had appointed were being paid less than the people the Assembly had appointed," he said.
Reader views (3)
The first question to be asked is, "what is the procedure for making grants and how many people have to authorise them". Surely one person cannot make grants of this size.
If one person can in fact make grants of this size - which are phenomenal by any standards, ie £638,000 to the Black London Forum via Mrs. Chouhan then the person/s who allowed this procedure to operate must themselves be liable.
If it is only a "breach of the code" not to disclose any sort of relationship, friendly, sexual or otherwise, in any way and then to make such a huge grant to that person this is an outrageous breach of even the most basic standards of propriety and a shocking indictment of Ken Livingstone's stewardship of his office and the institution of Mayor.
If I were a London taxpayer, I would be screaming from the rooftops. Let's hope the Police do a good job of investigating these issues but after the cash for peerages enquiry, I somehow doubt it.
- Michael Clift, Worcester, UK
Ken, the Jasper story is NOT about race, women or sex, it is about MONEY.
- V Tan, London
Incredible, if Londoners vote Red Ken in again, after this tacit admission that he would return joker Jasper to his former position, wasting all our money on so called "charities", you deserve everything your going to get!
- George Dorman, Bexleyheath
