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'''Lee Jasper''' (born 1958) is a ] Black activist and former Senior Policy Advisor on Equalities to the ].<ref name="guardian">{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2000/may/09/uk.londonmayor1 | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Vikram | last=Dodd | title=Key jobs: Profiles of mayor's race advisers | date=2000-05-09}}</ref> He resigned on 4 March 2008 following publication by the '']'' of emails Jasper had sent to a board member of two groups which were given funds from the Mayor of London. Karen Chouhan received a series of messages from Mr Jasper in 2006 that were described as "sexually charged" by the Standard. These came 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.<ref>http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/mayor/general-jaspers-torrid-emails-to-sexy-kazzi-6634536.html.</ref> A district auditor investigation ruled that Jasper’s behaviour in channelling grants to cronies was “not appropriate”, that he concealed his personal relationships with them in a “conflict of interest” and that his conduct fell below “the standards expected” from a GLA officer, forcing his resignation<ref>http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/andrewgilligan/100147088/ken-livingstone-six-new-lies-in-a-single-afternoon/</ref>. He was also investigated in relation to a payment given by the ] to south London's ] and cleared.<ref name=BBC1>, '']'' (online), 5 December 2007</ref> |
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==Personal background== |
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Born in ] in 1958 Jasper is of English, African and Jamaican descent. He claims to be quarter Irish. Jasper moved to ] at the age of eight and remained there until he was twenty one. He married twice, the first ending in divorce, and the second on the death of his wife from ] in 1994. |
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==Career== |
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Jasper left school without qualifications and briefly ran a market stall selling second hand clothes. In his 20's as a mature student, he gained a degree in ]s at ] and moved to London, where he worked at the Mangrove Community Association<ref></ref> and became involved in the politics of the ]. |
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Over the next decade, Jasper became a prominent race and human rights activist, sitting on many different committees and groups such as the ], the ], and the ].{{ref}}}. He founded a range of the UK's most prominent national black organisations such as the ], ] and ]. He was also a founder member of ] and ] Independent Advisory Group. Jasper was a witnesses at the ] inquiry in his capacity as representative for the 1990 Trust. He was also a campaign group member of the Lawrence Campaign and personally organised the intervention of ] in support of the Lawrence Campaign.{{ref}} Jasper also provided training for the Metropolitan Police in community issues. This role ceased in 1995 following the ] as some police officers blamed Jasper for a hardline speech that inflamed the crowd.<ref name="guardian" /> |
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Jasper was voted one of the top 100 Great Black Britons.<ref>http://www.100greatblackbritons.com/bios/lee_jasper.html</ref> He was also voted one of the top 10 in the ''New Nation'' newspapers Black Power List in 2007. He was one of only two people in the top 10 from the public sector.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/aug/26/pressandpublishing.raceintheuk | location=London | work=The Guardian | title=The real black power list of 100 leading role models | first=Michael | last=Eboda | date=2007-08-27}}</ref> |
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Jasper was the Chief Political Commentator for '']'' newspaper during the 2010 election.<ref>http://www.voice-online.co.uk/content.php?show=17204</ref> In 2010 he was awarded a Life Time Achievement Award by the NUS Black Student Campaign in recognition of his contribution toward challenging racism in higher education and on behalf of black students in the UK.<ref>http://operationblackvote.wordpress.com/2010/05/24/mr-lee-jasper-receives-life-time-achievement-award/</ref> In July 2010 he was awarded a Pride of the Motherland Award ((Africa) at the 02 Arena by the National Consortium of African Student Societies. |
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He is currently co Chair of He is a leading member of the anti cuts campaign. He is also the chair of the newly formed London Race & Criminal Justice Consortium and a political adviser to the and a board member of and Vice Chair of . He is administrator for the "Justice 4 Smiley" campaign on Facebook. |
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In July 2011, Jasper suggested there were similarities between the extremist ] and ] ].<ref>http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/7129123/breivik-and-the-right.thtml</ref> |
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==Greater London Authority== |
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As advisor to the Mayor of ], ], Jasper earned £120,000 per year in his role as the Mayor's policy Director for Policing and Equalities. He was responsible for the development, enactment and promotion of equalities policies for the ] (GLA) and had corporate responsibility for the development and delivery of anti discriminatory policies aimed at ensuring equality in employment practices and service delivery. He was also directly responsible for advising the Mayor on policing issues. He secured level 5 for the GLA, the highest level available for the Local Government Equality Standard; only a handful of public sector organisations have achieved this distinction.{{ref}} |
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Due to his role in the ], he played an important part at the ] hosted by the GLA in London in 2004. This caused some controversy, as there was disruption at the anti-racist session of the Forum. His strong criticisms of the disruption<ref>{{cite news|author=Close |url=http://politics.guardian.co.uk/esf/story/0,15212,1330411,00.html |title=Letters: Unwelcome anarchy at the European Social Forum | Politics | The Guardian |publisher=Politics.guardian.co.uk |date= 2004-10-19|accessdate=2009-10-30 | location=London}}</ref> were in turn condemned by a small number of hard left wing groups as stifling dissent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/london/2004/10/299638.html |title=UK Indymedia | Anti-Racist Groups Accuse Lee Jasper of Playing 'Race Card' re ESF |publisher=Indymedia.org.uk |date=2004-10-20 |accessdate=2009-10-30}}</ref> |
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He represented the Mayor's Office at the London's Gold Group Emergency and Disaster Committee that sat continuously throughout the ]. He organised the Mayor's apology for Transatlantic Slavery in 2007 and led the successful campaign to have the 23rd of August recognised as Transatlantic Memorial Slavery Day in partnership with ]. He led with others the establishment of the Mayor's Commission on African and Asian Heritage in London. He oversaw the multi million pound funding and investment by the Mayor's office of the the , the , th Brixton Base,among many others. |
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He chaired the Mayor's Notting Hill Carnival review producing the most in depth report ever produced on the issues associated with staging the event and outlining its full economic potential. He chaired the GLA Equalities and Budget Committee, also the GLA Procurement Diversity Strategy that produced a clear strategy in ensuring minority access to all city contracts. He pioneered the GLA Equalities effort resulting in the GLA being awarded Level 5 of the Local Government Equality Standard. He was responsible for London Black History Month season and led on the Mayors bicentennial anniversary of the abolition of transatlantic slavery programme that included an apology for slavery on behalf of London by the then Mayor Ken Livingstone. Jasper produced the first race, faith and disability planning guide for the London Plan the first for any city in the world. He led the Disability and Women's Capital, London schools and the Black Child annual conferences and events focussing on a broad range of equality issues. He led on the Rise Festival and oversaw the delivery of the disability arts festival Liberty and the London Asian Mela. He ensured the delivery of a high profile recruitment strategy for the Metropolitan Police Service that saw for the first time a 50% increase in black and ethnic minority officers. He led for the Mayors Office on the creation of safer neighbourhood policing teams. He also led the campaign to return the confiscated assets of criminals back to the communities that suffered their crimes resulting in millions being reinvested in London high crime communities. He was a lead member of the project team that delivered the successful Safer Neighbourhood Programme.{{ref}} |
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===Funding controversy=== |
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{{POV-check|section|date=May 2009}} |
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In March 2008 it was reported that Police investigating public funds allegations involving associates of Jasper had arrested ], said to be a friend of Jasper's, whose company, ] (DI), went into ] after being paid nearly £350,000 by the ] (LDA). It was alleged that the tender rules had been waived when DI was paid £346,000 to run a London website .{{ref}} |
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On the same day another LDA-funded group linked to Jasper, ], was shut down by the Financial Services Authority. EM had received over £1 million from the LDA and the government, and it was discovered that £18,000 had been diverted from it to a company of which Jasper is a director.<ref>{{Cite news | last = Dawar | first = Anil | author-link = | last2 = | first2 = | author2-link = | title = Police make arrest in LDA funding inquiry | newspaper = ] | pages = | year = | date = 18 March 2008 | url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/mar/18/london08.london | location=London}}</ref> |
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The police launched an investigation after Jasper voluntarily referred these and other press allegations to the police in a bid to clear his name. Arrests were made in response to the pressure brought to bear by the London Conservatives and the '']''. Eleven individuals were arrested by the Metropolitan Police and after a two year and eight months investigation all of them were subsequently released without charge.{{ref}} |
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Incoming ] ] also launched an extensive Forensic Audit Panel investigation to examine in detail all aspects of Jasper's decisions and actions whilst in office. That committee reported in July 2008 that Jasper had acted at all times within his remit as a Mayoral adviser although the panel did express concern about two members of his staff responsible for the Carnival Showcase.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://static.london.gov.uk/mayor/value-for-money/docs/final-report-08-08.pdf |title=Mayor of London - Value for money: Report of the Mayor's Forensic Audit Panel |publisher=London.gov.uk |date= |accessdate=2010-11-10}}</ref> After a police investigation in July 2008 and in December 2008 the police no further action was taken.{{ref}} |
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In July 2009 all of the investigations concluded that Jasper and all those included in the allegations made by Evening standard, had no case to answer.<ref>{{cite news|author=Logged in as click here to log out |url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2009/jul/03/lee-jasper-andrew-gillian-london-development-agency-evening-standard |title=Evening Standard Lee Jasper allegations are falling apart | UK news | guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date=2009-07-03 |accessdate=2009-10-31 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8146096.stm |title=UK | England | London | Ex-mayor's aide cleared of fraud |publisher=BBC News |date=2009-07-11 |accessdate=2009-10-31}}</ref> |
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The most recent report, which was produced after a forensic 18 month independent investigation by the law firm ] and commissioned by the London Development Agency examined all the fraud and corruption allegations made by the London ''Evening Standard''. The report published in June 2009 concluded that Jasper had not influenced the funding decisions of the LDA and that there was no evidence of fraud or corruption. However, according to a BBC report of the investigation, although Mr Haworth-Maden said he found no evidence of fraud or corruption, he called for a number of administrative improvements at the GLA. 'His report found that Mr Jasper failed to record declared interests to the "standards expected". He also found that Jasper's role in approving funding was "inappropriate given his interests" in a number of cases.<ref></ref> |
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==References== |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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{{Reflist}} |
