Lee Jasper resigns

I see that "The Mayor of London's senior aide Lee Jasper has resigned. Mr Jasper had been at the centre of allegations concerning the misuse of public funds.The Greater London Authority (GLA) said there was no foundation for the allegations against Mr Livingstone's adviser on race relations. But it added Mr Jasper had tendered his resignation after new claims on Tuesday, which the mayor's spokesman said Mr Livingstone had accepted."

I wonder if Lee Jasper's resignation has anything to do with the stories in The Evening Standard - first that "Lee Jasper channelled City Hall funding to two projects run by a woman whom he bombarded with sexually charged emails, the Standard can reveal. The Mayor's senior aide sent a string of messages to Karen Chouhan, the company secretary of the 1990 Trust and director of the Black Londoners' Forum.
In one message to the 50-year-old married mother of three he calls darling, he wrote: "I love thee [sic] feet, ankles, legs, thighs, bum and belly, arms, head and brain. But most of all I love you in a flaming red sari, bangles, chains or failing that in a bikini!" Days later the 1990 Trust was given £65,000 by City Hall. Mr Jasper did not declare his relationship with Mrs Chouhan or any interest in either organisation."

Second that "Emails sent by Ken Livingstone's senior aide Lee Jasper to a board member of two groups which were given funds from the Mayor are revealed today. Karen Chouhan, 50, received a series of sexually charged messages from Mr Jasper shortly before her organisation - the 1990 Trust - received a £65,000 grant. A second group, the Black Londoners' Forum, was also funded by City Hall. In one he talks about wanting to "honey glaze" her before a "passionate embrace" and in another he talks about his love of her "thighs, bum and belly". The married mother-of-three denies any impropriety, but says she had a "close relationship" with the adviser. Mr Jasper, 49, helped the 1990 Trust, and the Black Londoners' Forum - of which she was a director - to receive more than £100,000 in City Hall grants. In total the two organisations were awarded £638,000 from the Mayor's office. But at no time did Mr Jasper, who is married, declare his relationship with Mrs Chouhan or any interest in either organisation. Mrs Chouhan was also appointed chair of the Mayor's prestigious London Equalities Commission on Mr Jasper's recommendation."


Do read the whole of Andrew Gilligan's articles and wonder what has being going on at the centre of power in London under Ken Livingstone.