Knight of the long knives

THE man who blew the whistle on a Royal Borough political adviser is refusing to come out of the shadows after exposing an alleged smear campaign.

Andre Walker resigned from the Royal Borough on Friday after a secretly recorded telephone conversation in which he conspires to oust the council's deputy leader Alison Knight was posted on YouTube.

The whistleblower, known only as 'Robert Bobbin' as refused to confirm his identify and disclose details such as his age, occupation and residence.

When contacted he feared the conversation was being recorded and agreed only to speak on a mobile phone.

He said: "All I did was record the call which I thought sounded horrendous and he sounded like a nasty guy. I'm happy that I've done my bit and will leave it to the relevant authorities."

'Mr Bobbin' was seating near Mr Walker on a train from Waterloo to Windsor and Eton Riverside at around 11pm on Tuesday last week and says he was so disgusted by what he overheard he decided to record the comments.

'Mr Bobbin' said: "I overheard him making sexual and very rude remarks. I thought this was rather outrageous. I just couldn't believe his behaviour.

"I must state that I am in no way political but the way in which this man was talking absolutely repulsed me and is everything that the public hates in politicians."

As 'Mr Bobbin' went to get off the train he took a photograph of Mr Walker and says he was threatened with violence.

He said: "He blocked my way out of the train and threatened me with violence unless I handed over the phone to him. A couple of passengers had to step in and push him out the way."

The recording was posted on YouTube and sent to councillors in the Royal Borough and London area.

'Mr Bobbin' said: "People like Andre Walker cannot be allowed to work in politics and drag down the good people I know do try their best. Our view of politicians and politics has already been destroyed by the expenses scandal and every party has the responsibility to make sure that they rebuild the trust in politics we need. We must weed out those that seek to pervert due process and use underhand tactics, smears and lies to further their own ambitions."