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Jasper benefactor given Mayor's Cabinet role
Evening Standard7 Dec 2007
A doctor who paid for the education of one of Lee Jasper's children was appointed to Ken Livingstone's advisory cabinet on the recommendation of Mr Jasper, who failed to declare his interest.
In 2000, Mr Jasper backed the elevation of Richard Stone to the cabinet, where he became the Mayor's "member for community relations".
In a taped interview with the Standard, Mr Jasper admitted that the Westminster doctor funded his child's nursery education.
Mr Jasper's official declaration of interests for the time makes no reference to the benefit, as GLA rules appear to require.
He insisted to us that the funding he received from Dr Stone "was all prior to becoming a Mayoral adviser" but the rules say any interests which could have "material" influence on a staff member's decision-making should be declared. The matter is likely to add to pressure on Mr Jasper.
In total, around £2.5 million of City Hall money has been paid to companies run by his friends or business associates. Hundreds of thousands of pounds is unaccounted for.
The advisory cabinet, set up shortly after Mr Livingstone first took office, was intended to provide the Mayor with a sounding board of high calibre figures.
It included architect Richard Rogers, leader of the City Corporation Dame Judith Mayhew, former minister Glenda Jackson and the MP Diane Abbott. Mr Jasper was also a member.
Dr Stone, a respected GP who is active in inter-faith relations, was not as prominent in public life as these figures, although he does have a personal charitable trust, the Stone Ashdown Trust.
The trust's website says it has "supported innovative thinking in the voluntary and community sector for over 20 years" and "lobbied for a greater understanding of minority communities, encouraged their integration into British society and supported their campaigns against prejudice and discrimination".
Dr Stone also acted as an adviser to the Macpherson inquiry into the killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence. It was in the course of this work that Dr Stone and Mr Jasper first met and became friends.
The Stone Ashdown Trust has also paid money to at least one of the suspect organisations which received the Mayoral grants.
The 1990 Trust, as the Standard revealed yesterday, received public money from the Mayor to mount political attacks on Mr Livingstone's opponents.
The cabinet was unpaid, but its members were able to describe themselves as "advisors to the Mayor", a title which Dr Stone frequently used in his other dealings. Dr Stone acted as a representative of the Mayor at several meetings and public functions and developed human rights policy for him.
The cabinet met monthly, chaired by Mr Livingstone, and its members had direct access to the Mayor. It was dissolved in 2002.
Dr Stone could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Mr Jasper refused to answer when asked by the Standard if he should have registered the benefit he had received.
The Mayor's office declined to respond to our questions about the matter.
Conservative London Assembly member Richard Barnes said: "This is extremely disturbing and really does raise questions of propriety."
