Mayor under fire for ‘lack of transparency’ over charity gifts

 
Donations: figures suggest that by summer last year Mr Johnson gave around £50,000 to charity

Boris Johnson came under fire today for refusing to be “open and transparent” about how much he has donated to charity.

Mr Johnson had said he would donate around 20 per cent of the £250,000 he earns annually as a Daily Telegraph columnist to two charities following his election in 2008.

He said he would give tens of thousands of pounds to the London College of Communications to fund journalism bursaries as well as a large donation to Friends of Classics, which supports the teaching of Latin and Greek in state schools.

But figures suggest that by summer last year Mr Johnson had only given a total of around £50,000 to the two organisations.

A spokesman in 2008 said: “He is being paid exactly £250,000 by the Telegraph, and out of that, out of his pre-tax income, he will be giving a total of £50,000 to two good causes.

“It will not be a 50/50 split. It is still being discussed but there will be more for the classics than the journalists.”

In addition to his wage for the newspaper column Mr Johnson earns £143,911 a year as Mayor of London and has received money for writing a series of books, including “Johnson’s Life of London”, a history of the capital.

A spokesman for the Mayor said his donations are “substantial” and that he will continue to make them for the “foreseeable future”.

The Mayor in 2009 referred to his £250,000-a-year pay for his newspaper column as “chicken feed”.

Lib-Dem candidate Brian Paddick said: “Boris Johnson tried to justify earning an enormous £250,000-a-year from The Telegraph, which he described as chicken feed, by promising to give 20 per cent to charity.

“If he told Londoners he would give money to charity, he should be open and transparent about how much he has given.”

Labour candidate Ken Livingstone, who has been slammed in recent weeks over a series of revelations about his own tax arrangements, today called on the Mayor to publish details of any donations.

“Not only is the Mayor part-time but it now turns out he broke his promise to give to charity,” his spokesman said. “It’s completely clear that we need a mayor who is in it for London, not himself. It’s time for Boris Johnson to publish exactly how much he has given to charity.” Last year his spokesman confirmed to Mr Johnson’s biographer Sonia Purnell that he had so far donated £30,000 to pay for nine student bursaries and made “large donations” to support classics teaching.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson’s re-election campaign said: “He makes substantial donations to charity. He is proud of the donations he makes and will continue to make these for the foreseeable future.”

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