'Pimps' forced me to quit, claims Ray Lewis

The disgraced former deputy mayor Ray Lewis has broken his silence to effectively accuse his detractors of behaving like "pimps" in forcing him to quit.

In an astonishing internet posting, Mr Lewis also likened himself to civil rights leader Martin Luther King and the biblical figure Joseph.

Mr Lewis, who was forced to resign over allegations of sexual and financial misconduct, also promises to fight on in the battle to clear his name - and even hints at a return to the political arena.

The posting, on the website of the east London academy he founded to help black boys, is Mr Lewis's first public communication since resigning in a blaze of publicity on 4 July. He quit as London's deputy mayor for young people - Boris Johnson's first high-profile appointment - after the Evening Standard revealed he had lied about being a magistrate.

On his internet posting, Mr Lewis writes: "I still have a dream. History records the power, potential and dangers of people who dream and have visions.

"According to the biblical book of Genesis there lived a young dreamer named Joseph. Joseph was one of many brothers, and Sunday school children may remember him for he was favoured by his dad, who on one occasion bought him a rather nice multi-coloured coat.

"Importantly he was a man who had a dream... but there were some people who hated the dreamer...

"Dr Martin Luther King Jr was also a dreamer, he famously said 'I have a dream' - that dream or the pursuit of that dream would cost him his life.

"Both these dreamers would suffer because dreamers upset people, especially people who want a world with the sign up marked 'business as usual'. These people are pimps of poverty; they get up and get off by keeping us down.

"On Friday 4 July my dream for London was almost destroyed... I said almost... keep watching!"

Mr Lewis was unavailable for further comment today. The academy is currently closed until August.