Lee Jasper suspended pending police investigation

Lee Jasper said that:

"I am being prevented from clearing my name, black organisations across London are being weakened by a systematic campaign in the Evening Standard from seeking funds, and a deliberate attempt is being made to divert attention from the real issues confronting London at the Mayoral election."

Livingstone commented:

"I believe this investigation will exonerate Lee Jasper and show this to be a shameful campaign. As the interests of London are best served by putting an end to this malignant political charade I have concluded that a full police investigation is the most authoritative way to end this story once and for all"

Full press release below.

Noon update: Boris Johnson's reaction...

"This is an outrageous attempt to avoid scrutiny. It was only 12 hours ago that the Mayor informed us that he had full confidence in Mr Jasper. What has changed his mind? Mr Jasper has been suspended – presumably on full pay – until after the election, in the hope that the full facts will not come out. It is clear that the Mayor’s handling of City Hall is descending into sleaze, chaos, and now cover-up. Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money has been wasted or trousered by cronies of the Mayor. And we now have the police called in to investigate the Mayor’s chief police adviser."

Lee Jasper has asked the Mayor to refer all allegations made against him by the Evening Standard to the police immediately for thorough investigation.

Lee Jasper said: 'I am being prevented from clearing my name, black organisations across London are being weakened by a systematic campaign in the Evening Standard from seeking funds, and a deliberate attempt is being made to divert attention from the real issues confronting London at the Mayoral election.

'This is being done deliberately and consciously - far from seeking clarity the Evening Standard for ten weeks has been running stories of false allegations against me without taking alleged 'evidence' to the police. Members of the London Assembly claim they wish to investigate 'a tide of corruption' while in fact they have prevented me from testifying before it. They have refused my repeated offers to appear before them to explain my work and disprove these allegations and they are now refusing to hold any hearings until 5th March.

'The deliberate aim of this delay is not to achieve clarity but to string out a series of unfounded and poisonous allegations in the media and investigation by the police will clear my name and put a stop to this.'

The Mayor said: 'I want to make completely clear the police have made no approach to me to refer these allegations. We are seeing an attempt at a trial by the media with the London Assembly not merely refusing to scrutinise but also preventing Lee Jasper answering these allegations even when he volunteers to do so and a police investigation will put a stop to this disgraceful political charade.

'The Evening Standard should immediately take any evidence it claims to have to the police or stop making these false allegations - in the good old phrase put up or shut up.

'In agreeing Lee's request I have also made the extremely difficult decision that like any GLA officer subject to a police investigation, Lee Jasper will be suspended pending the outcome of the police investigation.

'I believe this investigation will exonerate Lee Jasper and show this to be a shameful campaign. As the interests of London are best served by putting an end to this malignant political charade I have concluded that a full police investigation is the most authoritative way to end this story once and for all.'

Comments

[Mr Angry]

Yeesss! Perhaps there is some justice under Labour after all. It is now vital that our GLA members ensure that the Police investigation is thorough and that it nails down the undoubted wrong doing that has occrred before nailing both Jasper and Livingstone for whatever their parts in it are.

No "Cash For Honours" type cover ups can be permitted.

[john]

Get ready for a blizzard of race cards as Jasper and his slimy boss try to wriggle of the hook.

[Moral minority]

So why isn't Lee Jasper suing the Evening Standard? Any civil proceedings would be suspended until after the police investigation.

[Prentiz]

So why isn't Lee Jasper suing the Evening Standard? Any civil proceedings would be suspended until after the police investigation.

Maybe he thinks that he can get away with a police investigation, where the standard of proof will be beyond resonable doubt, but not with the civil proof standard of on the balance of probability?

Or perhaps he thinks the Met is so hidebound by political correctness that a sniff of claimed racism will be sufficient to put the knockers on any real investigation...

[Tony Makara]

The fact that Lee Jasper hasn't moved to sue the Evening Standard does speak volumes. Robert Maxwell wouldn't have put up with such allegations!

[George Hinton]

Ahhhh, deep joy.

Such a pleasure to hear that this divisive and odious little man has got his comeuppance.

As for the Standard, whilst an agenda was no doubt set, as we well know with the left, there's no smoke without fire. Red Ken has been runnning the GLA as his personal fiefdom for far too long, and Jasper has, no doubt, taken advantage of his situation and peculated away to his heart's content.

[Common Sense]

This smacks of a pre-emptive move by Livingstone and his Socialist Action advisors to limit the damage of an impending police investigation. It's a well-worn trick in the US: a criminal who knows he's about to be indicted "calls" for the police to investigate him "to clear my name". Then, during the period of the investigation, he and his allies parrot the line that it was they who instigated the whole thing.

It's a tactic that only works in the short term (ie - until the rascal is convicted) but Livingstone's priority is to make it through to May 1st. After that, I suspect he won't give a stuff about his dodgy race-mongering sidekick.

[John Moss]

You don't get it, do you? Livingstone is clever! This is a cover up!

He''s "suspended" Jasper - no doubt on full pay - so he will be off the scene until after the elections in May.

Boris has just put out a press release to that effect.

I bet he'll be out campaigning for Livingstone full time for the next 10 weeks now.

[James Cleverly]

This far from clear. Is Jasper now under personal police investigation or not?

[Keith]

We should get too excited about this development.
It'll be the old pals act.
Ken supported the embattled Sir Ian Blair a while ago. So Blair may owe Ken a favour.....
So Jasper may be 'exhonourated' by any inquiry. This would get Ken off the hook.

[Sean Fear]

No, Jasper is finished.

[Craig Barrett]

Given the close relationship between Livingstone and Jasper, this investigation should be "fast-tracked" to ensure that it reports in advance of the election.

The electorate need to be able to vote based on whether Livingstone really is tainted by scandal or not.

If, as he says, he is confident that Jasper will be exonerated then he surely cannot object to this? To say otherwise is tantamount to an admission of guilt.

[Ken Livingstone Campaign]

Commenting on statements made by Boris Johnson today regarding Lee Jasper, Ken Livingstone's campaign said:

"Boris Johnson has made unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and 'trousering' today, yet despite putting himself forward to become the chair of the Metropolitan Police Authority, there is a fully substantiated case against Boris Johnson – that there is a tape recording of him agreeing to supply the fraudster Darius Guppy with the address of the journalist Stuart Collier so that the latter could be beaten up. In contrast to Johnson's unsubstantiated claims today, the case against him is a matter of record and should be fully investigated, particularly given its extreme relevance for anyone who wants to be involved in crime and policing in London."

Boris Johnson's statement can be found here: http://www.backboris.com/assets/releases/pdf/15_02_08_Jasper_suspension.pdf

The transcript of Boris Johnson's involvement in the Guppy affair is available here:

http://clients.squareeye.com/uploads/compass/documents/BorisJohnsonCompassFileFINAL.pdf

[Londoner]

It is extraordinary that Lee Jasper is descending to attacking Boris Johnson for alleged events when he was a private citizen many years ago which are totally unconnected with the GLA or London.

In fact, as any reader of Boris's biography knows, it has been shown that whatever conversation he had, Boris did not in fact pass on the private address of Stuart Collier. He implied in the conversation that he would or might, but never in fact did so. Therefore there is no "case against him as a matter of record" and this attack just further confirms that Mr Jasper is lashing out hopelessly like a cornered animal because he has been rumbled.

Doesn't suspension normally mean that the accused is obliged to shut up about the allegations until they have been investigated?

Boris should challenge Livingstone on whether Jasper will be permitted to play any part in his election campaign or whether, as someone else has suggested, this "suspension" will just free him up to spend the next 10 weeks campaigning and generally attacking Livingstone's electoral opponents to his heart's content.

[Londoner]

Further to my last post, I have just noticed that the probably libellous statement by Lee Jasper has supposedly been put on here by "Ken Livingstone campaign". If that is really true - and of course it may not be - this takes his campaign not so much into the gutter but the sewer. They must be desperate.

Can the editor check what computer it came from? If it was from one situated in the GLA's building, might that not in itself be a further scandalous development - using GLA resources for the Mayor's personal re-election campaign and publicising a suspended member of staff's statement about the private life of a rival candidate for office?

[Londoner]

Sorry - I now realise that the statement itself was by Ken Livingstone's campaign, not by Jasper. I'm not sure which is worse, but my comment about Livingstone in the sewer is even truer. It seems it's Livingstone that's the wounded animal not Jasper.

How much dirtier is this Livingstone campaign going to get in the next 10 weeks?

[Sean Fear]

In fact, the evidence is that Johnson was doing his best to dissuade Guppy from the course of action he proposed. However, smears and filth have been the hallmark of Livingstone's campaign from day 1.

Jasper is toast. Yes, a suspension is not the same as a dismissal, but you don't get suspended unless you have a case to answer. Up till now, Jasper and Livingstone have denied that there is any case to answer.

I believe that there is worse to come, from Livingstone's point of view, and I don't doubt he'll lash out repeatedly, from now to polling day.

[Jill, London]

As "Ken Livingstone Campaign" has posted a link to the Labour pressure group Compass enacting what Boris Johnson calls "a great caterwauling of confected indignation" – in the interests of balance, here is a link to a critique of Compass’ dossier on Boris:

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23410465-details/How%20Boris%20quotes%20were%20spun/article.do?expand=true

Headed “How Boris quotes were spun” – and written by Andrew Gilligan on 31 August 2007 – here is a taster:

“The author of the Compass report, Chuka Umunna, ignores numerous articles in which Johnson supports positions that are anathema to any genuine member of the "Tory hard Right", such as immigration, gay marriage, and a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Palestinian occupied territories.

“The report echoes attacks by Mr Livingstone, who has described Johnson as "to the right of Norman Tebbit" and an "acolyte" of President Bush.”

[london conservative]

"In fact, the evidence is that Johnson was doing his best to dissuade Guppy from the course of action he proposed."

This is nonsense. Did Boris Johnson call the Metropolitan Police after that phone call? No. The clown is not fit to be Mayor.

[Sean Fear]

Ah, London Socialist returns.

[london conservative]

So did he call the police then, Sean?

Last time, I supported a Conservative who could have been Mayor. This time, like Sean, the candidate isn't up to it.

[David Boothroyd]

The police have closed their investigation of Lee Jasper after a matter of hours because there is no evidence of any criminal conduct. I look forward to the apology in tomorrow's Evening Standard.

[Red Monkey Man]

And from Livingstone - who referred him to the police! How, by the way, can he be in the clear if he has not be investigated? If

[John Moss]

David Boothroyd is incorrect.

The police never opened an investigation into Jasper. This appears to be simply spin by Livingstone.

They have open investigations into six organisations, with which Jasper has some, as yet unclear linkage, all of which received taxpayer's money from the London Development Agency and which are being investigated to establish whether that money was obtained under false pretence or fraudulently.

In all those cases, it has been shown, pretty conclusively, that the LDA have appallingly lax systems for assessing whether grants should be given, the main criteria for which seems to be is the organisation run by people likely to support Livingstone? They also seem to have appallingly lax systems for monitoring what the money is spent on and whether anything of merit is actually achieved, with what is after all....

OUR MONEY!