Jenrick avoids questions over £1bn planning approval for Tory donor
The Government is facing calls to open an investigation into housing secretary robert Jenrick in a row over a planning application for a major property development by Tory donor Richard Desmond.
Labour said the conservative Party should return a £12,000 donation from Mr Desmond made weeks after Mr Jenrick stepped into approve the £1 billion West ferry development in London, while the Liberal Democrats called for a probe by the Cabinet Secretary.
The government says the development was approved in line with planning laws, and the donation was properly recorded. Yesterday Mr Jenrick swerved a grilling from MPS over the controversy, sending junior housing minister Christopher Pincher to answer an urgent question.
Labour warned the Cabinet minister will “not have the public confidence” needed to overhaul the planning system until he provides “full transparency over his unlawful decision to force through” the 1,500 home Westferry development.
And they urged Mr Jenrick to publish all correspondence he had in relation to the decision to give the development the goahead. Downing Street said
Boris Johnson had full confidence in the Housing Secretary. The Westferry Printworks redevelopment scheme in east London was approved in January by Mr Jenrick against the recommendation of a planning inspector, a decision that has since been reversed after legal action by Tower Hamlets Council.
In a statement in May, the local authority said the “timing of the decision appeared to show bias” as it was made a day before new infrastructure charges came in to force, allowing Mr Desmond’s Northern and Shell firm to avoid paying between £30-50 million extra to the council.
Labour later accused Mr Jenrick of making the decision after he dined with Mr Desmond “at a glitzy fundraising dinner”. Two weeks after the scheme was approved, Electoral Commission records show Mr Desmond personally gave £12,000 to the Tories.