Ray Lewis - A stab in the back

Borris Johnson is a relatively lucky man. He may have proved himself something of a blind idiot with a worrying lack of rigour in his staff selection procedures, but the important role he had championed Lewis for seems to be shielding his administration from the sharpest fire.

Ray Lewis’ resignation on the basis that the countless accusations against him (really quite a lot to have gone unnoticed) were getting in the way of the Mayor’s work may have been a way of avoiding admission, but it was also a likely prediction of what would ensue did he not get out of the spotlight. Just as ‘blunt 2’ is getting underway, the last thing it needs is to be undermined by scandal and sleaze.

It must be incredibly frustrating for the Labour party not to be able to seize the unbelievable gaff as fierce ammunition. But that would undermine their own cause of getting a handle on knife crime. Ken Livingstone admirably seemed to have recognised this, avoiding the opportunity to really stick the knife in (excuse the pun) at Johnson’s unbelievable oversight and offering a considerable degree of sympathy. One can only hope, in the sake of public interest, that others deal with the blunder as tactfully.

Curbing knife crime is a cause which the media also seem fully behind. Those with a sense of social responsibility are unlikely to want to discredit the campaign. Yet if the accusations are proved true, it is important to expose the weaknesses in the administration which allowed such oversights to occur. If some far-reaching collaborative smear campaign really has occurred, then questions need to be asked about why and how his innocence was not already known as a result of City Hall vetting procedures. The treatment of Lewis and the Johnson administration over the next few weeks will be a test of editors’ skill.