WHAT DID BORIS KNOW?
Arm in arm with tycoon, PM dragged into row over Tory donor’s £1bn scheme
BORIS Johnson is under pressure to come clean about his contacts with the Tory donor behind a controversial £1billion homes scheme after it was revealed the pair spoke at a fundraising dinner.
The Prime Minister yesterday rejected calls for a formal investigation into Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick over his dealings with billionaire property developer Richard Desmond.
Mr Jenrick rushed through the approval of Mr Desmond’s plan to build 1,500 homes in east London, saving him tens of millions of pounds, after they sat together at a Conservative Party event.
But Mr Johnson now risks being dragged into the row after it emerged he also spent time with the former newspaper owner at the fundraiser.
The Daily Mail has established that a photograph of the two men with their arms around each other was taken during the event at the Savoy Hotel in November.
The PM has denied any involvement in the decision to give Mr Desmond permission for his development at the former Westferry Printworks on the Isle of Dogs.
But Downing Street has repeatedly refused to disclose what contacts Mr Johnson has had with the businessman since entering No 10.
Other photographs from the evening show attendees also included Sir Eddie Lister, the Prime Minister’s chief strategic adviser.
Sir Eddie approved an earlier proposal for the Westferry development in 2016 when he was Mr Johnson’s deputy mayor at City Hall.
Labour yesterday issued a fresh call for the Cabinet Secretary, Sir
Mark Sedwill, to launch a formal investigation into Mr Jenrick. The PM is refusing to allow an inquiry despite the release this week of damning documents that lay bare communications between the Housing Secretary and Mr Desmond.
They show that the businessman pleaded with Mr Jenrick to give the project the go- ahead before a Labour-run council brought in a levy that would cost him £45million.
In one text message, Mr Desmond wrote: ‘We appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!’
Emails between Mr Jenrick’s officials show the minister was ‘insistent’ the planning decision should be made before the levy came in. Two weeks after permission was granted in January, Mr Desmond donated £12,000 to the Conservative Party.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC yesterday: ‘It’s now got to the stage where the Prime Minister’s judgment is in issue.
‘He says the matter is closed, but it’s far from closed. The latest disclosures show discrepancies, they show Jenrick initiated conversations.
‘We want straight answers on this and I think the public do, they can tell something’s wrong here. Straight answers, full disclosure and an investigation by the Cabinet Secretary.’
Labour’s housing spokesman Steve Reed called on Mr Jenrick to come before Parliament to ‘explain major discrepancies’ between his account of what happened and documents that have been released.
Downing Street, which has distanced itself from the planning decision, said Mr Johnson still has ‘full confidence’ in Mr Jenrick.
No 10 says it considers the matter closed and last night, when asked about the picture of Mr Johnson and Mr Desmond together at the fundraiser, a spokesman said: ‘The Prime Minister has not discussed this Westferry planning application or appeal with either Mr Desmond or his representatives. Nor has anyone else in No 10. Any suggestion to the contrary is completely false.’
Business Minister Nadhim Zahawi also came to Mr Jenrick’s defence, insisting he had done nothing wrong and suggesting any voter could talk to Tory MPs by going to a party fundraiser. ‘They’ll be sitting next to MPs and other people in their area,’ he added.
Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs said: ‘The revelations about the Westferry printworks decision have blown apart confidence in our planning system under Mr Jenrick. It looks like he rushed through the decision to help save the developer money and shortchange my residents.’
Mr Jenrick accepted last month that his decision had been ‘unlawful by reason of apparent bias’ after Tower Hamlets launched a High Court challenge. He agreed for the approval to be quashed and to take no further part in decisions.
‘Prime Minister’s judgment at issue’
WHY on earth is Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick still in his post? His decision to force through permission for a controversial housing development planned by a billionaire Conservative donor may not have been illegal, but it stinks to high heaven.
If he had any sense of propriety or party loyalty, he would have resigned immediately after deeply incriminating texts revealed his cosy relationship with the developer – former newspaper proprietor Richard Desmond.
Playing as it does into the old bogus narrative of the Tories serving only the rich, this imbroglio is damaging the party and damaging the Prime Minister. The longer it goes on, the worse it gets.
It’s also another instance of Boris Johnson failing to act decisively when one of his ministers or senior advisers falls short of the standards the public expect.
Contrast his vain attempt to shut down debate on this affair with the no-nonsense approach of Labour leader Keir Starmer, who summarily sacked Rebecca LongBailey from his shadow cabinet yesterday for sharing an allegedly anti- Semitic newspaper article.
It was an example of firm leadership that Mr Johnson should learn from.