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Jenrick under pressure to hand over Desmond letters over ‘cash-for-favours’ claims
The Housing and Communities Secretary faces scrutiny after controversial planning decision
June 17, 2020 10:47
The Housing and Communities Secretary faces scrutiny after controversial planning decision
June 17, 2020 10:47
Cabinet Minister Robert Jenrick is facing mounting pressure to release all his correspondence with the property developer Richard Desmond in order to clear his name from “cash-for-favours” claims.
Mr Jenrick, the Housing and Communities Secretary, has been told he must hand over by Friday all letters relating to a controversial decision to grant planning permission for an application by Mr Desmond – the former president of Jewish charity Norwood - to build 1, 500 homes in east London.
Clive Betts, chair of the housing, communities and local government select committee, has written to Mr Jenrick saying a failure to hand over the documentation “could lead to an erosion of trust in the integrity of the planning system and in our wider democratic process”.
The row over the development began when it was revealed Mr Jenrick had approved the Westferry Printworks scheme in January against the recommendation of a planning inspector.
This decision also allowed Mr Desmond's Northern and Shell firm to avoid paying between £30m and £50m in extra tax to Tower Hamlets Council as it came a day before new infrastructure charges came into force.
Two weeks after the decision was made to approve the project, Mr Desmond donated £12,000 to the Conservatives, a move Labour said "raises grave concerns about cash for favours".
Mr Jenrick admitted "apparent bias" in the case during a High Court challenge brought by Tower Hamlets. It also emerged he had sat next to Mr Desmond at a Conservative Party fundraising dinner.
On Wednesday it emerged that Mr Jenrick - who is married to an Israeli-born lawyer and who has been vociferous in his support for Jewish community in the UK in his Communities Secretary role - had handed over papers relating to his decision to Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s spokesperson stressed that a formal investigation had not been launched.
Earlier this week Mr Jenrick told MPs in the Commons that he accepted the decision approve the deal had been “highly contentious” but he had done so “in good faith with an open mind”.
He said he was “confident all the rules were followed” and said he had not known he would be seated next to Mr Desmond at the fundraising dinner.
Mr Desmond has previously described himself as “a miserable Jewish kid from north London who became a billionaire and clambered onto the ramparts of the British establishment”.
The former owner of Express Newspapers and the founder of OK magazine, a Liberal Jew, stood down as Norwood president in 2015 after more than eight years in the role.
Speaking to the JC ahead of the last General Election, Mr Jenrick revealed his fears for “the futures of my three young Jewish children” if Jeremy Corbyn became PM.
In a message to the community in April ahead of a Pesach dominated by strict social distancing rules, Mr Jenrick told the JC: "This will be a Passover like none of us have known before."
