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| Johnson aide quits over race row | |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| An adviser to London Mayor Boris Johnson has resigned after making an apparently racist remark to a reporter. | |
| Responding to a claim that some black people might leave the UK if Mr Johnson became mayor, James McGrath said: "Let them go if they don't like it here." | Responding to a claim that some black people might leave the UK if Mr Johnson became mayor, James McGrath said: "Let them go if they don't like it here." |
| Mr McGrath said his remark to an undercover reporter from the-latest.com website had been taken out of context. | |
| Mr Johnson said he knew Mr McGrath was "not a racist", but the remarks made it "impossible" for him to keep his job. | |
| Undercover reporter Marc Wadsworth said that Mr McGrath made the comments to him when he pointed out a critical piece in a newspaper during Mr Johnson's campaign to become mayor. | |
| His remarks made it impossible for him to continue Boris Johnson | |
| In his online article he writes: "I pointed out to him a critical comment of Voice columnist Darcus Howe that the election of 'Boris Johnson, a right-wing Conservative, might just trigger off a mass exodus of older Caribbean migrants back to our homelands'. | In his online article he writes: "I pointed out to him a critical comment of Voice columnist Darcus Howe that the election of 'Boris Johnson, a right-wing Conservative, might just trigger off a mass exodus of older Caribbean migrants back to our homelands'. |
| "He retorted: 'Well, let them go if they don't like it here.' McGrath dismissed Mr Howe as 'shrill'." | |
| Mr McGrath then wrote a comment on the website in reply: "The columnist suggested that older people from the Caribbean might migrant back to their homelands if Boris Johnson became Mayor. | Mr McGrath then wrote a comment on the website in reply: "The columnist suggested that older people from the Caribbean might migrant back to their homelands if Boris Johnson became Mayor. |
| "I felt that this suggestion was ridiculous and intended as a slur and responded by saying with words to effect of 'let people go if they don't like it here'. | "I felt that this suggestion was ridiculous and intended as a slur and responded by saying with words to effect of 'let people go if they don't like it here'. |
| "To imply that I meant that all black people who didn't support Boris Johnson should leave the country is utterly absurd and incorrect. And I would ask please that this insinuation is immediately retracted." | "To imply that I meant that all black people who didn't support Boris Johnson should leave the country is utterly absurd and incorrect. And I would ask please that this insinuation is immediately retracted." |
| In a statement Boris Johnson said: "It is with great regret this evening that I have accepted the resignation of my political adviser, James McGrath. | In a statement Boris Johnson said: "It is with great regret this evening that I have accepted the resignation of my political adviser, James McGrath. |
| "Unfortunately, his remarks in a conversation with an internet journalist, published this weekend, made it impossible for him to continue in that role. | |
| "James is not a racist. I know that. But his response to a silly and hostile suggestion put to him by Marc Wadsworth, allowed doubts to be raised about that commitment. | |
| "I wish James well in the future, thank him for his contribution and urge everyone not to misrepresent his view or misinterpret his intentions any further." |