Labour has today demanded answers from No 10 about Boris
Johnson’s relationship with Richard Desmond and his role in the
Westferry scandal, in which Housing Secretary unlawfully approved a
planning application knowing that it would help the
multibillionaire Conservative Party donor avoid tens of millions
of pounds in tax.
Labour has demanded to know how many occasions has met Richard Desmond since
becoming Prime Minister, as well his meetings with other
Conservative Party donors. It follows reports that the Cabinet
Secretary is investigating the Housing Secretary for a breach of
the Ministerial Code.
, Labour’s Shadow Communities
and Local Government Secretary,
said:
“This murky affair threatens to engulf 10 Downing Street. It’s
not just the Housing Secretary that needs to come clean about the
decisions he has taken, it’s the Prime Minister too.
“Robert Jenrick’s unlawful, biased decision that saved
Desmond tens of millions of pounds was seeded in the Prime
Minister’s approval of this application while he was Mayor of
London, when he was wined and dined by Desmond in five star
hotels across London.
“This scandal reaches right inside 10 Downing Street given
the Prime Minister’s relationship with Richard Desmond. He must
now come clean about when he and his advisers met Desmond since
taking office and must ask the Cabinet Secretary to launch a
formal investigation into any breaches of the Ministerial Code to
show the Conservatives have not been accepting cash for
favours.”
Ends
Notes to editors
· Labour
has tabled Parliamentary Questions regarding meetings the Prime
Minister has had with Richard Desmond since he took office
· Cabinet
Secretary launches probe into Jenrick’s decision to approve the
Westferry Development: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8428953/Cabinet-secretary-launches-probe-ministers-decision-approve-Tory-donors-1bn-property-deal.html
· Tories
remove donor club lists from their website: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2020/06/13/conservatives-scrap-donor-dinner-list-introduced-cash-access/
· had three meetings with a
billionaire property developer in the months before he approved a
housing scheme on the Isle of Dogs in east London: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/developer-richard-desmond-met-boris-johnson-for-drinks-726686fhx
