Andy Burnham has defended himself after being accused of ‘covering up’ links to Manchester City following a register of interests being ‘deleted’.
The Prime Minister came under fire for his comments in support of the crisis-stricken club’s Abu Dhabi owners following the seismic guilty verdict that rocked football, before backtracking and vowing to release all material from his dealings with them.
Mr Burnham previously claimed to have had just one formal meeting with City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.
But he now stands accused of misleading the public after a deleted register of interest showed he joined Al Mubarak twice in a luxury box at City’s Etihad Stadium, while he also accepted tickets to an Ed Sheeran concert, according to the BBC .
Mr Burnham accepted City-funded freebies worth nearly £1,200 which appeared on a register of interests that he signed in December 2020 during his time as Manchester mayor and was later taken down from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)’s website, they report.
On April 18, 2020, the register shows a value of £699 given to ‘dinner with the Chairman at Man City/ Man United derby at the Etihad.’
Andy Burnham, then Greater Manchester mayor, pictured with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2019. The register of interests citing Burnham’s meetings was later removed from Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s website
And later that year on August 17, the entry reads: ‘Dinner with Richard Leese and Chair of Man City for the Everton match at the Etihad.’ The match ticket value is given as £38, while the hospitality is listed at £300.
At PMQs on Wednesday afternoon, Mr Burnham said of the discrepancy: ‘They did not raise those issues with me. I’m very happy for everything to be set out in full, it is why I asked the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, in response to a call from the leader of the opposition and others to set out a full statement of my key dealings with the owners of Manchester City Football Club.
‘That statement was published on Monday and it includes the issues in the news today and that is the position.’
GMCA have not yet responded to Daily Mail Sport’s request for comment. According to the BBC, it is the GMCA’s policy to only publish entries from the current mayoral term.
On reacting to the deleted register of interests re-published on X, Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick wrote: ‘This saga stinks. Burnham appears to have concealed his extensive links to Man City’s owners. Fans deserve better.’
The details of Mr Burnham’s contacts with City during his time as mayor were released by GMCA on Monday.
They revealed the Prime Minister had a formal meeting with Al Mubarak at an investment summit in October 2021 while he was Greater Manchester mayor.
He also chatted to Al Mubarak in the stands during a testimonial game in 2019 and was accompanied by City staff on official overseas visits to China and Japan.
But the deleted register of interest shows he was in a hospitality suite at the Etihad with Al Mubarak for a game against Everton and also the Manchester derby.
Burnham had previously said on The Rest is Politics podcast: ‘I will quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester.
‘None of it is recent, in terms of meetings I had. I only had one significant meeting and that was in 2021. That is right and I will put that all out there.’
The new revelation will only intensify scrutiny over the Prime Minister’s relationship with City’s Abu Dhabi owners, who maintain their innocence and are appealing the independent commission’s verdict.
The club were found to have made ‘sham’ agreements to manipulate their financial accounts to the tune of £900million over a nine-season period which saw them win eight trophies in the biggest cheating scandal in British sporting history.
Tory shadow sports minister Louie French said Monday’s disclosure of Mr Burnham’s meetings was ‘far from the full transparency that football fans deserve’.
Mr French said: ‘Burnham cannot hide behind the GMCA – he must take responsibility for this himself.
‘We have been given precious little information about these meetings, what was discussed and what may have been agreed.
‘If Burnham has nothing to hide, why is he being so tight-lipped?
‘His bizarre intervention in defence of Man City’s owners has raised serious concerns among fans.
‘It’s time for the PM to come clean about his relationship with City Football Group so the public can make their own conclusions.’
Mr Burnham said last month he would be ‘really concerned’ if City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club in the wake of the finding against them, crediting them with being ‘a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester’.
Downing Street sought to clarify his comments afterwards, saying the PM was clear the judgment is serious and that where wrongdoing is established, those responsible should face the consequences.
Meanwhile, the club returned to action on Sunday, beating Liverpool 3-0 at Anfield to go top of the Premier League table in a season at risk of descending into farce until the appeal is heard and any punishments handed out.
