Top mandarin Sir Mark Sedwill launches probe into Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick’s decision to approve Tory donor’s £1billion property deal
- Robert Jenrick is accused of ‘cash for favours’ in dealings with Richard Desmond
- Mr Jenrick approved a 1,500-home development in east London in January
- This was 2 months after he sat with Desmond at a Tory fundraising dinner
- Desmond, who once owned the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, then went on to donate £12,000 to the Conservative Party two weeks later
The Cabinet Secretary has launched a probe into a minister’s decision to approve a Tory donor’s £1billion property deal.
It came as Boris Johnson faced calls to reveal his own contacts with the billionaire businessman behind the plan.
Sir Mark Sedwill is conducting a review after Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick was accused of ‘cash for favours’ in his dealings with former newspaper tycoon Richard Desmond.
Mr Jenrick approved the 1,500-home development in east London in January two months after he and Mr Desmond sat together at a Tory fundraising dinner.
His decision came one day before new rates for a community levy on the site would have kicked in that would have cost the billionaire between £30million and £50million to help pay for local amenities.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is pictured on 9 June at Downing Street. Sir Mark Sedwill is conducting a review after Jenrick was accused of ‘cash for favours’ in his dealings with former newspaper tycoon Richard Desmond
Mr Desmond, who previously owned the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, then went on to donate £12,000 to the Conservative Party two weeks later.
Mr Jenrick subsequently had to quash his approval for the plan following a High Court challenge from Tower Hamlets council. He accepted his original decision had been ‘unlawful by reason of apparent bias’ and said he would take no further part in the matter.
Mr Johnson is expected to face questions on the matter at Prime Minister’s Questions today.
Last night, Labour called on him to reveal details of any meetings he and his senior advisers had with Mr Desmond and his associates in the run-up to the planning decision, as well as any other talks he has held since becoming Prime Minister. As London mayor, Mr Johnson and his deputy Sir Eddie Lister approved a proposal for the Westferry development in 2016 after meeting Mr Desmond on several occasions.
Sir Eddie is now the PM’s chief strategic adviser.
Labour’s housing spokesman Steve Reed said: ‘This murky affair is the result of Robert Jenrick’s biased and unlawful decision… It is time for the Prime Minister to tell us what he knows about this affair… He must restore shattered confidence in the planning system and show the public that it’s not one rule for the Conservatives and their billionaire friends, but another rule for everyone else.’
Richard Desmond (L) and Joy Desmond attend the launch of Sexy Fish, London in Berkeley Square on October 8, 2015 in London, England. Mr Jenrick approved the 1,500-home development in east London in January two months after he and Mr Desmond sat together at a Tory fundraising dinner
Downing Street yesterday confirmed that Mr Jenrick had handed over papers relating to his decision to the Cabinet Secretary as he reviews what happened. However, the PM’s spokesman stressed that a formal investigation has not been launched.
In the House of Lords yesterday, peers questioned how the Housing Secretary was still in his job. Labour’s Lord Kennedy of Southwark asked: ‘How is it justifiable that [he] is in his post having acted so blatantly and after he accepted that he acted unlawfully?’
In response, housing minister Lord Greenhalgh insisted that Mr Jenrick had ‘followed the planning guidelines’ of his own department.
But crossbench peer Lord Thurlow argued: ‘For our planning process to work effectively. It must be transparent and decisions balanced and fair. However, for the public to read that… Mr Jenrick had private discussions with Mr Desmond or his team to sponsor a development worth hundreds of millions of pounds shortly before consent was granted is unacceptable.’
And Labour’s Lord Foulkes suggested that Mr Desmond’s £12,000 donation to the Tories ‘will be seen as cash for influence’.
Yesterday, Labour MP Clive Betts, chairman of the Commons housing committee asked Mr Jenrick to publish all correspondence and documentation relating to his role in the decision. In a letter to the Housing Secretary, Mr Betts wrote: ‘There … remain important questions about how and why planning permission was granted.’