Ray Lewis has resigned. He continues to deny the initial accusations against him, and blames the “hair-splitters” in the media, while stating that he does not wish to “obscure the good work” of Boris.
The Telegraph claims that:
“Scotland Yard revealed that police had received a string of complaints against Mr Lewis over the last decade, in one case leading to his arrest on suspicion of deception. Each time the police concluded that no further action should be taken and he has never been charged with an offence”
What now begins is the investigation to find out exactly what he resigned for, and whether it was necessary.
Tags: 2 Comments
2 responses so far ↓
This was as inevitable as day follows night.
Good to see how badly the Boris-nomenklatura handled it. Bodes well for the future.
There remain more questions than answers.
One is Lewis’s claim to have been a “Prison Governor”. Is it true that, in fact, he never reached higher than being a “deputy governor”, one of the half-to-full-dozen underlings on the first rung of the managerial ladder? Was this claim tested by the Tories who, singularly, failed to check the JP claim? Is it significant that the original Press Release (of 5th May) made a specific claim that Lewis was a “Prison Governor”, but the attached “note to editors” merely stated he had been “working at HM Prison Woodhill, Milton Keynes”? Was someone in the Press Office already tipping the wink?
That Press release quoted Boris:
“I have a huge amount of respect for Ray Lewis and what he has achieved. I want to build on his success to deliver real change for young people in London both now and in the future. Ray’s dynamic but strict approach has given countless opportunities to hundreds of young men in London and helped raise their aspirations as a result. He has helped them achieve more than they ever hoped possible and now I want to spread that magic across London.
“We face a wave of violent crime amongst young people in the Capital. Kids are killing other kids. Ray will be part of my team who will work night and day until we put an end to this tragic trend.
The same statement is reproduced, verbatim, on the Eastside Young Leaders’ Academy website. Dig a little further, an one discover a panegyric of a biography, anonymous, of Lewis. This states: “In 2000 Ray was employed as a prison governor, one of a tiny minority of black governors in the country.” Did he leave the prison service, as rapidly as he left it, under what may be a cloud? If the EYLA caters for just “80+ boys and families which it serves”, is Boris’s’ claim of “countless opportunities to hundreds of young men” verifiable?
Then, in another direction, there is the curious drunkard’s walk of yesterday. It would appear that a definitive statement to the Press was issued by the Bishops, then hastily withdrawn. It was implied that legal action was involved, or at least threatened. If so, who introduced “our legal friends”? Was it Lewis or Boris’s acolytes, or Tory HQ?
Again, tonight, why was the Lewis statement withheld for perhaps an hour? Who was being consulted? Was it the hierarchs of City Hall or did go to the top at Tory HQ? Just who is pulling the strings here?
Doubling back for a conclusion: “dynamic but strict” - nice juxtaposition of adjectives. Does it describe the Borisonian approach to adjusting the truth?
[...] Nick Boles authorised this on the 7th July - three days after Ray Lewis’s resignation. We can only conclude that City Hall were not confident of their ability to judge [...]