London: Mayor & More

Ray Lewis: EYLA's Chaplain

Baptist minister the Reverend Bruce Stokes:

"People will say there's no smoke without fire but when you work this way with kids you're bound to be investigated," he said. "I wonder whether its Ray's personality and style that people really object to. In the four years I've known him I've been nothing but impressed by his professionalism and energy...I don't know where he's cut corners but he has that way with him. He's an action man, who doesn't spend long hours reflecting. He comes up with answers. It feels he has been completely stitched up."

Quoted in the Independent.

Ray Lewis: A Defence

From the Guardian:

"He told Society Guardian in January that he wasn't cut out for public office. He had 'flirted' with politics, but decided he was too much of a maverick. 'I couldn't buy into all the shit,' he said. Well, Lewis did buy into it, the shit hit the fan, and there is a danger - and this is the real tragedy - that some of it could end up sticking to Eyla, which is that precious thing, a small charity with the potential to make real and lasting positive social impact."

Now read on.

Tim Parker Meets The GLA Staff

The Troll reports.

Ray Lewis: Boris Might Still Seek His Advice

The Standard's Katharine Barney took something different from this morning's plenary.

At Guardian Politics: Boris & The Bishop

This went live on the blog on Monday. There's now a bit more to say, which I'll get back to:

For a few heady minutes in the middle of Sunday morning I considered doorstepping the Bishop of Barking. He lives in Walthamstow, which is just up the road from me and he appeared to have an answer to one of several awkward questions raised by the Ray Lewis affair. Had Mayor Johnson been warned by him that his then deputy for young people had been disbarred from working as a minister because of serious allegations made against him?

Ray Lewis & Caring Conservatism

Sunder Katwala:

"Clearly, Ray Lewis helped the Conservatives with their public rebranding. But he was also presented as the model of the modern civic conservatism, which will promote 'progressive ends' without the state. The great question mark about this agenda is whether it is much more than wishful thinking."

Now read on.

Ray Lewis: Andrew Gilligan To the Rescue

He writes:

"It's bad that Lewis does appear to have, shall we say, abuse of trust issues from the mid-1990s. But some of the most effective workers with tough kids have far worse pasts than that. The fact that Lewis comes from the same chequered background as the knife-carriers is why he can reach them in a way that middle-class social workers cannot."

Fair comment. But what if any "abuse of trust issues" haven't gone away?

Ray Lewis: Melanie Phillips To The Rescue

In today's Daily Mail she writes of Lewis:

"Here is a man who has literally saved lives. Among the boys whose behaviour he has transformed through his Eastside Young Leaders’ Academy in East London are those who, without any doubt, would otherwise have gone on to kill or be killed."

She continues:

"These were the toughest boys in the neighbourhood. They had fought, bullied, smashed up their schools and set fire to them, barricaded teachers into the classrooms and been in accelerating trouble with the law. Yet when they left Eastside virtually all of them went to college and lived law-abiding lives."

Phillips then seethes on as you'd expect, just about acknowledging that Lewis had to go, just about acknowledging that if some of the stories about him turn out to true then those who've lauded him have been duped, then changing the subject to blame "the Left", Newham Council for giving him "only minimal funding" - hang on, Melanie, they didn't need to fund him at all! - and insinuating that the church's attempts to bring Lewis's past into the light have dubious motivations.

As it happens, I too would like to know why the church didn't act over Lewis before. The difference is I don't subscribe to conspiracy theories about liberal elites. But let's go back a bit. Many people, plenty of them far from fools, have praised Lewis's work at Eastside. Yet can claims that his methods have transformed hundreds of boys' lives be backed up by evidence? I don't say they can and I don't say they can't, but if Melanie or any of Lewis's other admirers can show that they've done more than simply take his or his subordinates' word for it, I'd be interested to hear from them.

Ray Lewis: Me On LBC

Tune in from 11.05 and you'll hear me wittering on about Ray Lewis.

Ray Lewis: John Sentamu To Remain EYLA Patron

The Archbishop of York is one of EYLA's two patrons, and has been since he was Bishop of Stepney. Being a patron doesn't entail anything like the same involvement as being a director, like prominent Tories Steve Norris and Francis Maude MP, but I did wonder if John Sentamu would consider his position as a result of the Lewis revelations. His office provided the following statement:

“The Archbishop of York is Patron for over a hundred charities of which Eastside Young Leaders Academy is one. The Archbishop does not have any involvement, or fiduciary obligation, relating to the strategic or day to day management of those organisations for which he is patron, but rather supports those organisations in their aims and stated objectives in his role as a figurehead. A review of the list of organisations for which the Archbishop acts as patron is carried out periodically.”

So his connection with EYLA has not moved up his agenda, but it will be interesting to see what results from the next review.