Angela Rayner was last night accused of refusing to investigate potentially ‘favourable’ loans given to the owners of Manchester City by Andy Burnham.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a Manchester-based property developer has called on the Housing Secretary to investigate £55 million of housing project loans made to the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG).
In the private letter, seen by this newspaper, the developers question why so much money was lent to ADUG with no requirement to build affordable homes needed in the area.
They also claim that ‘no due diligence’ was carried out over the loans, made in 2017 by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which was then led by Mr Burnham as Mayor.
The Prime Minister is coming under increasing pressure to reveal the full extent of his connections with ADUG, which is owned by Sheikh Mansour, the deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates and a member of its royal family.
Only last week it was revealed that Mr Burnham had met Manchester City bosses at least six times as Mayor, despite previously claiming he had had just one ‘significant’ meeting with them.
At Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, the PM insisted that the club’s owners had never raised the question of fraud charges against Man City with him, and said he was ‘happy for everything to be set out in full’ regarding his dealings with the football club.
However, questions are being raised over the nature of a huge series of loans made to ADUG when Mr Burnham was Mayor.
Angela Rayner was last night accused of refusing to investigate potentially ‘favourable’ loans given to the owners of Manchester City by Andy Burnham
Andy Burnham (right) with Manchester City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2019
The developers who wrote to Ms Rayner last night raised concerns that the loans could have been made at ‘favourable’ rates, although the interest remains a secret.
But despite receiving the request to investigate last month, Ms Rayner – the Cabinet Minister who would have the authority to launch such an inquiry – has yet to make any public comment.
Last night, Tory party chairman Kevin Hollinrake suggested that she was failing to act because of ‘a clear conflict of interest’.
He told The Mail on Sunday: ‘She is being asked to look into deals made under the man who she campaigned for and who just gave her a Cabinet job, and she is sitting on her hands.
‘Developers raised serious concerns with her department more than a month ago and have heard nothing. If the PM has nothing to hide, he should welcome a proper independent investigation.’
Katie Lam, Tory local government spokesman, said: ‘The chumocracy at the heart of Burnham’s dealings in Manchester deserves proper scrutiny, not political protection. Rayner should put the public interest ahead of party loyalty.’
According to the letter sent to Ms Rayner last month, by March this year the loans given to ADUG made up 97 per cent of a taxpayer-funded investment scheme for developers to invest in Manchester.
The £55 million in loans were lent to ADUG to build thousands of new homes in east Manchester.
Man City were last month found guilty by an independent Premier League commission of breaching financial rules between 2009 and 2018, and creating ‘sham contracts’ to inflate sponsorship deals by £830 million.
When the verdict was revealed, the PM was heavily criticised for saying he would be ‘really concerned’ to lose Sheikh Mansour’s investment.
Yesterday, the GMCA denied any wrongdoing, saying: ‘Every penny loaned from the fund is being fully repaid, delivering billions of pounds worth of development at no cost to the taxpayer.’
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government declined to comment.
The ADUG said it had put its own capital into projects before accessing loans, and loans were all repaid in full.
