Is Boris linked to sleaze ???

Given that Boris's publicity team will neither confirm or deny that he has had meetings with a Billionaire property developer since becoming PM, I think we can infer that such meeting(s) did take place.



No 10 refuses to say whether Boris Johnson has had contact with Richard Desmond while PM
Senior source insists no-one in 10 Downing Street discussed controversial planning application with property developer

Labour are demanding that Boris Johnson "come clean" about his contacts with Richard Desmond, after a senior Downing Street source refused three times to say whether the prime minister had met or spoken with the billionaire property developer, amid continuing controversy over a disputed planning application.

Government links with the billionaire have come under intense scrutiny after communities secretary Robert Jenrick admitted that his decision to overturn the recommendations of a local council and planning inspector to give the go-ahead for a 1,500-property development in east London was unlawful.

Now Mr Jenrick's Labour shadow, Steve Reed, has tabled parliamentary questions demanding the disclosure of any meetings with the PM and called for a formal investigation by the head of the civil service, cabinet secretary Sir Mark Sedwill.

Asked three times directly at a Westminster media briefing whether the PM had been in contact with Mr Desmond since entering No 10 last July, the source said only: "No-one at No 10 has discussed this application with Mr Desmond and No 10 has had no involvement with the Secretary of State's appeal decision."

The source said he had "no detail" on any contacts with Desmond.

And asked whether the PM's aide Sir Eddie Lister had been in touch with the billionaire developer, he simply repeated the same line. Lister was Mr Johnson's planning chief when he approved a smaller scheme on the same site as London mayor. Mr Johnson is reported to have met Mr Desmond three times before the approval of the 700-home plan.


In the House of Commons earlier, Mr Johnson came under pressure to publish correspondence between Mr Jenrick and Mr Desmond about the former printworks site at Westferry on the Isle of Dogs at the centre of what Labour has branded a "cash for favours" row.

Mr Jenrick revealed on Monday that the letters have been handed over to Sedwill.

But Downing Street insists that this is merely in order to allow Sir Mark to answer letters he has received about the controversy and does not imply a formal investigation is under way.

Mr Jenrick approved the Westferry application, which was previously rejected by Tower Hamlets Council, the day before the introduction of a new community levy which would have cost Mr Desmond’s Northern & Shell an additional £40 million.

He has also come under criticism after it emerged Mr Desmond raised the issue with him at a Conservative fundraising dinner in November and donated £12,000 to the Tories two weeks after planning permission was granted.

As the council pressed for Mr Jenrick to publish his correspondence, the housing secretary accepted that his decision had been unlawful, quashed it and handed it over to another minister to determine.



Robert Jenrick (Reuters)


Labour has called for an inquiry to clear up the “bad smell” over the decision.

Shadow communities secretary Mr Reed 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.”

Mr Johnson denied that he or any of his officials had any correspondence relating to the application.He told MPs that Mr Jenrick would respond to any concerns “if there is anything to be said”.

At prime minister’s questions, Labour MP Christian Matheson asked him: “The prime minister has previously stated to the House that he had no correspondence or discussions with (Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick) about the Westferry Printworks application.

“Will he now also confirm that none of his officials or advisers also had such correspondence or discussions with (Mr Jenrick) or his officials and advisers and will the prime minister undertake to publish all correspondence relating to this matter when (Mr Jenrick) reports?”

Mr Johnson responded: “I certainly had no correspondence about this matter myself and nor, as far as I’m aware, did any of my officials, but if there is anything to be said I know that, I think, (Mr Matheson) has written to (Mr Jenrick) and he will be writing back.”

On Monday, Mr Jenrick told MPs he had acted in “good faith” and “within the rules” in backing the plan.

 

Documents reveal that Jenrick, the scumbag 'nasty party' Housing Minister was induced to award a planning application from a BBillionaire property developer in return for a £20,000 donation to 'nasty party' funds.



Tory Donor Pressured Robert Jenrick To Approve Housing Plan With Swipe At 'Marxist' Council
Documents state minister was “insistent” scheme was pushed through before a new levy would cost Richard Desmond-backed project millions of pounds.

• 
  By Graeme Demianyk

PA
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick.
Media mogul Richard Desmond sent a series of texts to Robert Jenrick making clear the minister’s approval for a controversial housing scheme would save Desmond paying millions to a “Marxist” council.


Jenrick, the housing secretary, has been under fire for waving through the development at the former Westferry Printworks site on London’s Isle of Dogs in January, despite the scheme being rejected by the local council and planning inspector over concerns about the lack of affordable housing.

His decision, now quashed, was deliberately taken in time for Desmond, a Tory party donor, and his Northern & Shell company to avoid being liable for a new Tower Hamlets Council levy that could have cost between £30m and £50m.

After weeks of pressure, Jenrick’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on Wednesday night released all “relevant information” connected to the decision.

They include a number of revealing texts between Desmond and the under-fire secretary of state, as well as documents stating Jenrick was “insistent” a controversial development scheme was pushed through before the new levy came into force.

The texts appear to have been initiated by Jenrick in November last year shortly after the pair discussed the proposal at a Tory party fundraising dinner.

On the night of the event, November 18, Jenrick texted the media mogul saying it was “good to spend time with him” and looked forward to seeing him again.

In another exchange two days later, ex-Daily Express owner Desmond tried to arrange a meeting with the housing secretary on December 19 as well as a site visit to the Westferry Printworks.

He complained about dealing with “Marxists” and apparently referenced the so-called Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), which would pay for vital public services in one of London’s poorest boroughs, as well as the “speed” at which the decisions needed to be made.

He wrote: “Good news finally the inspectors reports have gone to you today, we appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!

“We all want to go with the scheme and the social housing we have proposed and spent a month at the Marxist town hall debating, thanks again, all my best, Richard.”


MHCLG
Tower Hamlets has the highest rate of child poverty in Great Britain and is the tenth most deprived local authority in England.

Jenrick replied declining a meeting until after a decision had been made due to his position.

He said: “As Secretary of State it is important not to give any appearance of being influenced by applicants of cases that I may have a role in or to have predetermined them and so I think it is best that we don’t meet until after the matter has been decided, one way of [sic] another – and I can’t provide any advice to you on that, other than to say that I will receive advice from my officials after the general election assuming I remain in office and will consider it carefully in accordance with the rules and guidance.”

Further text message exchanges followed in December, beginning on December 13 when Desmond congratulated the housing secretary on the Conservative election win.

He said: “Robert, fantastic day today! So happy and relieved as the whole country is. Well done for keeping calm.”

Another message from Desmond followed on December 23, saying: “Morning Robert How does the advice look? We have to get the approval before January 15 otherwise payment of 45 million pounds to tower hamlets (sic) meaning we have to stop and reduce social housing.”

According to the documents released by the government, Jenrick did not reply and it was not until January 22 that he got back in touch, after he approved the development, overruling both Tower Hamlets Council and a planning inspector.

Jenrick has already conceded his decision was “unlawful by reason of apparent bias” and confirmed his approval was deliberately issued before the new CIL policy could be adopted.

But in the cache of documents, which run to 129 pages, correspondence between the civil servants suggest for the first time that the “viability” of the scheme, if the levy came into effect, had an influence on Jenrick’s decision. Viability refers to the amount of profit the developer could reasonably expect to make in return for the risk it accepted by building.


MHCLG
In a January 9 email between staff at the MHCLG, one notes: “On timing, my understanding is that the SoS [secretary of state, Jenrick] is/was insistent that decision was issued this week ie tomorrow (Friday) – as next week the viability of the scheme is impacted by a change in the London CIL regime.”

Another email from the following day added: “LB [London Borough of] Tower Hamlets is adopting a new local plan and CIL regime next week. The appellant [Desmond] believes that the proposal would not be viable if it was liable to CIL charges.”

A judicial review of his decision triggered by Tower Hamlets Council has meant Jenrick was able to avoid publishing correspondence relating to the application in open court. Planning permission is now to be decided by a different minister.


PA
Richard Desmond.
Jenrick has been facing accusations of “cash for favours” and accusations of making a “morally wrong” decision, and the release follows Labour pressure in the House of Commons.

Late on Wednesday night, Labour’s shadow communities secretary Steve Reed raised a point of order in the Commons chamber, claiming there were “significant discrepancies between what [Jenrick] told the House and what is revealed in the documents”.

He added: “Specifically that he did not immediately notify officials following his dinner with the applicant Richard Desmond, that rather than closing discussion down with the developer, as [Jenrick] implied, he instead initiated contact with him the next day via text.

“And the letters confirm that he rushed through the decision deliberately to help the developer avoid a £30 to £50 million levy payable to Tower Hamlets Council.”

 

As the leaked papers prove - that sleazy scumbag Jenrick is dropping further into the mire.

Anyone want to bet on how long he stays in his job ???


Papers Reveal How Jenrick's Department Ignored Need For Affordable Homes To Save Tory Donor Millions
One officer said "we don’t have time for that", documents reveal. The reason for the rush? To save Richard Desmond up to £50m in tax.

• 
  By Graeme Demianyk

Robert Jenrick’s department waved through a Tory donor’s controversial development knowing full well that it didn’t provide adequate affordable housing, email chains have revealed.

With the project set to be hit by a levy of millions of pounds if a decision was made a day later, a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government official said of the affordable housing concerns: “We don’t have time for that.”


The Westferry Printworks development was to contain 21% so-called affordable housing, of which about 220 would be for “affordable rent” – up to four-fifths of market rate – and the rest, just over 90, would be for “intermediate rent”, more expensive still. The average market rent in the borough by the end of 2017 was £1,733 a month, nearly double the national rate and significantly out of reach of those most in need.

Housing secretary Jenrick is under fire after releasing documents over his decision in January to approve the east London development driven by multi-millionaire Richard Desmond.

The timing of the planning approval came just a day before a new community infrastructure levy (CIL) came into force, which could have cost Desmond’s Northern and Shell company up to £50m – cash that would have gone towards local infrastructure in one of the country’s most deprived boroughs.

Before Jenrick’s intervention, plans for 1,500 flats on the former Westferry Printworks site on London’s Isle of Dogs had already been rejected by the local Tower Hamlets Council and a planning inspector over concerns about that same lack of affordable housing.


PA
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick speaking in the House of Commons.
The council was unhappy about the proposed number of so-called affordable homes: a 21% proportion rather than the 35% minimum expected by local leaders. There were also worries about the mix of flat sizes, and the lack of family homes.

Within a stash of letters and texts published on Wednesday night by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, reference is made to an “acute need for affordable housing in Tower Hamlets”. More than 20,000 households are on the borough’s waiting list, with some families expected to wait more than a decade to be given a property.

Officials questioned in the correspondence on January 14, the day Jenrick announced his decision and a day before the CIL came into effect, whether there was the opportunity to increase the proportion of affordable housing in the plan – desperately needed to help with the borough’s 20,000-long wait list, which stretches past a decade for some types of home.

But another responded: “It would not be possible to introduce a condition on the provision of affordable housing without going back to the parties to ask them for their views on such a condition – and we don’t have time for that.”


MHCLG
The need to reach a decision ahead of the levy’s introduction is evident throughout the cache of papers.

In another document, a ministry official indicates the secretary of state (SoS) wanted Westferry to be signed off and approved the following day so that it would avoid the CIL.

It stated: “On timing, my understanding is that SoS [secretary of state, Jenrick] is/was insistent that decision issued this week ie tomorrow – as next week the viability of the scheme is impacted by a change in the London CIL regime.”

Jenrick published information after Labour tabled a motion – which was approved – directing the government to release all documents relating to the controversial approval.

The housing secretary has faced accusations of “cash for favours” after it emerged ex-Daily Express owner Desmond had personally given the Conservative Party £12,000 two weeks after the scheme for 1,500 homes was approved.

Jenrick has since had to quash his own approval, conceding the decision was “unlawful” because people could see it as biased – even though he denies any bias actually existed, and says the scheme was signed off on its own merits.

READ MORE: Tory Donor Pressured Robert Jenrick To Approve Housing Plan With Swipe At ‘Marxist’ Council

The newly-released documents show texts between Jenrick and Desmond after spending time together at a Tory fund raising event event.

In one text, apparently referring to Labour-run Tower Hamlets Council as “Marxists”, Desmond said: “We appreciate the speed as we don’t want to give Marxists loads of doe [sic] for nothing!

“We all want to go with the scheme and the social housing we have proposed and spent a month at the Marxist town hall debating, thanks again, all my best Richard.”

Jenrick replies that it is “important not to give any appearance of being influenced by applicants of cases that I may have a role in”.

 

The Sleaze-bag 'nasty party' housing minister is seemingly digging himself deeper into sleaze !!!


Labour demands explanation from Robert Jenrick over meeting with 'family friend' with potential interest in mining project
Housing secretary already under pressure over decision on £1bn Richard Desmond property plan



PA
The Independent employs reporters around the world to bring you truly independent journalism. To support us, please consider a contribution.

Labour is demanding an explanation from beleaguered housing secretary Robert Jenrick over a ministerial meeting with a “family friend” with potential interests in a mining issue he was overseeing.

It came as pressure mounted on Mr Jenrick over his decision to approve a £1bn housing development planned by billionaire Tory donor Richard Desmond, with the The Sunday Times reporting an anonymous official as saying that civil servants “begged” him not to wave through the project, which they reportedly said was “70 to 80 per cent” likely to be judicially reviewed.

It was revealed earlier this week that Mr Jenrick met Idan Ofer while a minister at the Treasury, where he was responsible for considering a request for financial support from Sirius Minerals for a North Yorkshire mining project that could have competed with the Israeli billionaire’s own firm.

Jenrick’s spokesperson told The Guardian that the minister informed officials, who advised him to step back from the decision on Sirius.

But the paper today reported that he may have retained oversight of the issue for a further six months before handing over to Liz Truss in early 2019. Later that year, Sirius revealed the government had refused to provide support and the struggling company was later bought out by Anglo American.

In February 2019, one of Mr Ofer’s other companies Quantum Pacific UK Corporation made a £10,000 donation to the Conservatives, which the businessman reportedly said was linked to a request from the Conservative Friends of Israel. Labour shadow communities secretary Steve Reed said: “Mr Jenrick must now tell us whether he declared his friendship with Mr Ofer to officials prior to the meeting, why he did not immediately step back from making the decision and what further discussions he had with Mr Ofer.


“It’s time for some honesty. Mr Jenrick must come to the House of Commons to explain exactly what he’s been up to because the public are now worried that a new era of Tory sleaze has begun in earnest.”

A spokesperson for Mr Jenrick said: “Whilst exchequer secretary, Mr Jenrick met with a number of stakeholders to discuss electric vehicles and charge point technology.

“This included a meeting with Mr Ofer, who has substantial experience in the industry. Officials from [the Treasury] attended those meetings and they were disclosed in his ministerial transparency data in the usual way.”

The spokesperson added: “Mr Jenrick recused himself from consideration of issues around Sirius Minerals.

“He did so before ministerial decisions were taken on the project, which I understand were taken after he had left HM Treasury in any case. Mr Ofer is a family friend. Mr Jenrick raised this with officials and voluntarily recused himself on their advice.”

Labour has already referred Mr Jenrick to the parliamentary standards commissioner Kathryn Stone over his dealings with Mr Desmond, after he overruled a local council and planning inspector to approve the Tory donor’s £1bn housing plan in Westferry, east London, in a way which he later accepted was unlawful.

Speaking to the The Sunday Times, Mr Desmond claimed that Mr Johnson said he would raise the maximum prize limit for his Health Lottery to £1m after the pair spoke at a Downing Street event.