Boris Johnson bows to pressure over disgraced Tory councillor

Boris Johnson has challenged a disgraced Tory councillor to justify her position as deputy chair of the pan-London fire authority after coming under pressure over his decision to keep her in the post. Bertha Joseph is still in her £19,000-a-year role on the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) despite losing an appeal last month against a six-month suspension from Brent council for spending £900 in donations on two ball gowns while serving as mayor of the north-west London borough. A complaint against Joseph over the issues raised in the case, lodged last week, is currently being investigated by the Metropolitan police. In a position that appeared at odds with David Cameron's attempts to present the Conservatives as spearheading the drive to "clean up politics", the mayor had initially refused to sack Joseph, insisting that legally there was "nothing to prevent" her staying on the board. But, in a sign that the mayor is under pressure to act, Johnson revealed last night that he had written to Joseph asking her to give him good reasons why he should not sack her. 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". A spokeswoman for City Hall said: "The mayor has written to Bertha Joseph to inform her that he is considering her position on the LFEPA board. He has invited her to make her case to him within the next fortnight." Brian Coleman, the LFEPA chair, told the Guardian that the Conservative mayor had only sent the letter on legal advice. "Boris has done what the lawyers have told him to do and that is fine." Coleman, a Tory assembly member who was appointed by Johnson to lead the fire authority, accused Labour of running a "nasty" and "toxic" campaign against Joseph, who defected to the Conservatives from Labour almost three years ago. Joseph was promoted to deputy chair of the LFEPA in October after she was suspended from Brent council, but before the appeal's ruling early last month. The judge who heard the appeal criticised her for a "repeated lack of credibility" and said that, because of her actions, "she surely cannot expect again to serve as mayor". Last week, Johnson came to the disgraced councillor's defence as he came under fire from opposition members on the London assembly for leaving Joseph at the helm. He accused the Labour group of "seeking to besmirch" the reputation of the fire authority by drawing attention to her case and "trying to do this person down for political reasons ". But he signalled a change of heart at the time as he revealed he was "in the process of drawing advice". 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." Len Duvall, the leader of the Labour group on the London assembly, today called on Johnson to "do the right thing". He said: "Boris has known about this since October, if not before. You have to wonder why it's taking him so long to decide whether someone who spent money intended for children's charities on ball gowns for herself is not fit for office. I understand Boris's reluctance to lose yet another appointment in sleazy circumstances but it's time he did the right thing and removed this councillor from his administration." Duvall dispatched a letter to Cameron asking him to "seek action" from the mayor on this matter as part of the Tory leader's "obligation to uphold high standards in public life". A spokesman for Conservative central office referred the Guardian back to City Hall. "It's an issue for Boris Johnson," he said.