Evening Standard reporter, Andrew Gilligan has truly outdone himself this time by clearly demonstrating that his recent series of 'investigative' articles are in fact part of an overt 'Operation Elect Boris Johnson' campaign to support Conservative candidate's race for London Mayor.

With more than 4 in 10 Londoners coming from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities, the BAME vote has now become a significant political stalking ground in the race to City Hall and it appears that candidates will use any means necessary to get there.  

The Black Londoners Forum (BLF) was set up in September 2000 and was established as the recognised interface between the Greater London Authority (GLA) and London's black communities.

The Factual Inaccuracies

Our Funding
What Gilligan said: The Black Londoners' Forum received £291k from the London Development Agency.

The Reality

The Black Londoners' Forum has never received funding from the London Development Agency.  It has however received funding from the Greater London Authority and London Councils (formerly the Association of London Government).


Our Accounts            
What Gilligan said:   The Black Londoners' Forum has not filed accounts for every year they received grants.

The Reality
This is untrue.  BLF's audited accounts for March 2006 were filed with Companies House.  The accounts for the year ending March 2007 will be filed in accordance with the Companies Act and once filed will be available for any member of the public to view.


Who We Represent

What Gilligan said:   The Mayor of London dominates BLF's agenda and acts as his mouthpiece.

The Reality
The work of the Greater London Authority is important to the BAME community.  Why shouldn't the Black Londoners' Forum report what the Mayor of London is doing?  Our role is to challenge the Mayor and all the other elected officials in London to ensure that we get a better deal for black Londoners.  Our website reports on issues affecting black Londoners, whether they emanate from City Hall or not.  Issues do with education, crime, employment, health, housing and young people have all been reported on the BLF website.  Gilligan has been highly selective about what he has chosen to report in his Evening Standard 'investigative' pieces.


Eroll Walters, BLF's Interim Director, said:
It is a very sad day when all the hard efforts and sacrifices made by individuals can be trampled on by powerful corporations, when our members and our board of governors who serve their community are unable to defend their reputations because we have no platform to speak the truth.
The Evening Standard knows that black organisations like BLF do not have the resources to challenge these lies in court and therefore will continue to treat the black community with contempt. When politicians and the media start to use individuals and organisations as pawns in their battles, without any thought to the collateral damage, the question must be asked are they really fit to govern.