Has Boris just made his first two big mistakes?

If the allegations against Ray Lewis prove to have sufficient truth and substance for him to stand down from his post as Deputy Mayor, it could be that Boris' big mistake #1 was appointing Lewis in the first place and that his big mistake #2 was not suspending Lewis pending the inquiry.

There is something which doesn't quite add up about this story. Two bishops have come forward, including one within London (the Bishop of Barking) and the Bishop of Chelmsford, who has said:

Between 1999 and 2005, Ray was placed under the formal disciplinary structures of the Church of England, and his ministry was restricted. This was because a misdemeanour of such seriousness had been committed that in the opinion of the Archbishop, the person concerned should not exercise his ministry for the time being.

I note that the bishop used the word "misdemeanour" without the word "alleged". I presume he had his statement checked by someone with legal knowledge before issuing it.

Therefore it seems remarkable that the bishop is going on record about a "misdemeanour" when Lewis says that he didn't even know that he had been disbarred from ministering in the Church of England. Very strange. (It is even stranger to consider that the decision to restrict Lewis' ministry was, the bishop says, taken by the Archbishop.) I would have expected there to have been some sort of documented inquiry and evidential process within the Church of England for the bishop to be able to use the words "misdemeanour" and "seriousness" without qualification.

Despite the bad press they get, I really don't believe that Church of England bishops go round looking for trouble for the sake of it.

If His Grace has such a powerful case, how come Mr Lewis was able to become a Justice of the Peace? How come he was appointed Executive Director of Eastside Young Leaders Academy in 2002, well after the period of the allegations from the bishop? How come he was appointed a prison governor? How come he was appointed Deputy Mayor of London? (I suppose the latter appointment might be explained by shambolic incompetance on the part of Boris Johnson but even then, one would expect some standard background check by London administration officials prior to appointment.)

Those are four posts which Mr Lewis has held which, I would have thought, have meticulous background checks prior to appointment.

(Mr Lewis also became the darling of the Conservative party and Iain Duncan-Smith, in particular. I am not sure I would expect rigorous background checks prior to that particular sort of canonisation.)

If the claims from the bishop are "complete rubbish", as Lewis has said, then why hasn't he been reported as starting legal proceedings against the bishop?

It is all very rum indeed. Either the bishop is talking "nonsense on stilts" and is in for a massive legal action against him or Boris has just made two very big mistakes which could haunt him for years.