Boris Johnson defends disgraced Tory councillor amid calls for her sacking

Boris Johnson today defended a disgraced Tory councillor who serves as deputy chair of London's fire authority amid renewed calls to remove her from office. The Conservative mayor has allowed Bertha Joseph to stay in her £19,000 post on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LEFPA) despite the fact that she lost an appeal earlier this month against a six-month suspension at Brent council. Johnson accused Len Duvall, the Labour leader on the London assembly, of seeking to "besmirch the reputation" of the pan-London fire authority by drawing attention to her case during mayor's question time earlier today. Joseph was censured for bringing her office into disrepute after spending £900 of charity donations to buy ball gowns and failing to properly register donations. Johnson said Duvall was "trying to do this person down" for political reasons after the Labour leader asked whether it was "morally right" to keep a suspended councillor in her post at the strategic authority. Johnson had previously indicated he had no intention of exercising his power to remove Joseph, despite the fact that under Schedule 28 of the GLA Act 1999 the mayor can terminate an appointment "if he is satisfied that the member is unable or unfit for any reason to discharge his functions as a member". Earlier this month, the mayor's office said there was "nothing to prevent" Joseph staying in post, despite her suspension being upheld by an appeal tribunal – a position that appeared at odds with David Cameron's attempts to present the Conservatives as spearheading the drive to "clean up politics". But today he signalled a change of heart as he revealed he was "in the process of drawing advice". "I am in the process of drawing advice about the matter in question and I do not think it would be appropriate to give a detailed answer to the question." The Tory mayor said it was "delicate matter". "If you were going through a similar experience [as Joseph] you wouldn't expect the person who has the right to relieve you of your command to be commenting in public about the particular circumstances and I won't." Earlier this week, Navin Shah, the vice-chair of LEFPA and a member of the Labour group on the London assembly, wrote to Johnson and urged him to sack Joseph on the grounds that her presence on the authority was "an insult" to firefighters and other LEFPA members. "At a time when politicians are keen to drive out any form of cronyism and sleaze, allowing Councillor Joseph to hold any public position is wholly wrong," Shah wrote. He added: "The [appeals] tribunal has now confirmed, beyond any doubt, that Councillor Bertha Joseph is not a fit and proper person to participate in the functions of the authority. She has now lost her £11k allowance payable by Brent council but has been rewarded by the LFEPA chairman and the Conservative group by appointing her to the post of deputy chair, for which she receives an allowance of over £19k, including her basic allowance as a member on LFEPA. Quite frankly, I find this disgusting." Joseph, a former Labour councillor who defected to the Conservatives, appealed against her suspension, imposed in October by Brent council. It was during this time that she was promoted to deputy at the LFEPA by chair Brian Coleman, who was personally appointed by Johnson. Duvall told the mayor today he should "redeem" himself by taking action quickly. "You have an appointment here that is falling short of the mark in standards of conduct in another place and yet you are quite happy for them to continue serving under your remit. You're quite happy to do that?" Johnson fired back he would not be "dragged" into making a premature decision. He accused Duvall of being "mean-spirited" for listing some of the people who had to quit his administration, most recently his deputy mayor, Ian Clement. "You constantly attack people trying hard, working hard," said Johnson. Johnson faced embarrassment last summer when Clement was forced to quit after it emerged that he misused City Hall expenses. Johnson allowed Clement, who became the fifth appointment to quit City Hall just over a year into his mayoralty, to resign rather than be sacked.