Burnham to get the Red Card?
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UK Mayor Andy Burnham has a memory problem.
Or at least that’s the most charitable way of putting it!
Appearing on the left wing whingefest “The Rest is Politics” with the awful Alistair Campbell and the hobgoblin Rory Stewart, he was asked about his dealings with Manchester City whilst he was Mayor of Greater Manchester:
His answer was blunt:
“I only had one significant meeting, actually, and that was in 2021.”
One. Significant. Meeting. 2021. His words, not mine
The Combined Manchester Authority has since confirmed that formal meeting at the Global Investment Summit, plus a chat in the stands at Kompany’s testimonial in 2019, and the usual free tickets here and there. Fine. That’s the official version.
But now we have additional Information and I think he should be very worried!
The Sun has pulled an archived copy of Burnham’s own register of interests. The one he signed on 7 December 2020. The one that later but ever so conveniently disappeared from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority website.
That register lists two dinners with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
First one: August 2017. City versus Everton — Burnham’s own club. Dinner with the chairman and the council leader. Hospitality around three hundred quid, plus the ticket. Declared. Provided by Manchester City Football Club.
Second one: April 2018. The Manchester derby. Dinner with the chairman. Declared at roughly seven hundred pounds.
A month later, two Ed Sheeran tickets at the Etihad as well. Ain’t life grand when you are Mayor?
So when Burnham says he only had one significant meeting, he’s either forgotten two dinners he personally declared with the chairman of the club — one of them against his own team — or he’s decided they don’t count as significant.
Now that Is really interesting because he thought they were significant enough to write down, place a value on, and sign his name underneath.
And then the register vanished from the public website. Poof! Just like that.
We’re not talking about a fleeting handshake at an awards do. These are itemised entries, with estimated values, signed by Burnham while he was already mayor.
Two months after that first dinner, the Combined Manchester Authority signed off a £25.5 million loan to a joint venture involving the club’s owners. Broader taxpayer-backed loans to related companies have been reported higher than that.
Burnham now says he’ll publish everything but the statement that’s gone out covers the 2021 meeting and the 2019 testimonial. It doesn’t mention the two dinners that were on the register he signed.
So which is it? Did he forget? Does he not consider dining with the chairman of Manchester City, at the Etihad, while mayor, to be significant?
Mayor Burnham postures as a “footie fan” but I can’t help but wonder if his closeness the owners of Manchester City will be his undoing.
