The Evening Standard’s otherwise excellent account of the Standards Committee verdict on the mayor includes this slightly odd line:
Sir Robin, who has been leader or Mayor of Newham since 1995, is entitled to an allowance of £81,027 a year, although he donates some of it to charity.
I asked the journalist, Jonathan Prynn, if Newham council’s PR people had asked him to add this and he denied it, saying “the charitable donations have been widely reported.”
I’d say ‘widely’ was pushing it a bit and it’s only ever been reported because the mayor’s people offered it as some kind of justification for his inflation-busting pay rises. It is utterly irrelevant in the context of this story. I wonder what brought it to Mr Prynn’s mind?
Many Newham people who earn far less than Sir Robin give money to charity and it represents a far bigger chunk of their income. They don’t expect to see it reported in the papers and would be deeply embarrassed if it was.
Perhaps the mayor should think back to the lessons he learned back in his Sunday School days:
Be careful that you don’t do your charitable giving before men, to be seen by them, or else you have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore when you do merciful deeds, don’t sound a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do … that they may get glory from men. (Matthew 6:1-2)
forestgatedotnet 
Charity does begin at home that why he gave 40million to west ham.