Andy Burnham is getting into Keir Starmer territory over Manchester City
Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg has said the Prime Minister is “getting into Sir Keir Starmer territory” over his meetings with Manchester City’s owners.
Speaking on GB News, he said: “The Prime Minister has denied any wrongdoing. The words that always make you suspicious and check that you’ve still got all your fingers if you’ve shaken hands with him.
“Let’s listen to what he had to say: ‘I’m very happy, Mr Speaker, for everything to be set out in full. It is why I asked the Greater Manchester Combined Authority 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.’
“I’m not sure it is quite the position because GB News contacted Downing Street for comment, and they referred us to the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, which is very odd because he’s not the mayor any longer; he’s the Prime Minister and you would expect Downing Street to be saying what went on rather than a mayoral authority.
“Anyway, they said in October 2021, Andy Burnham had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK government’s His Majesty’s Government’s Global Investment Summit, arranged by the Parliament for International Trade. He was a guest of Manchester City at home matches on a small number of occasions, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared as usual. ‘
“Also, it turns out he had a few cosy dinners with the Chairman, but they weren’t declared. They came out later and were revealed exclusively by the Sun.
“And the problem is that politicians need to have associations both with businesses and with global leaders but they mustn’t look as if they’re in the pockets of these people.
“It’s the appearance that matters so much; that we need to deal with the UAE and Saudi Arabia and the United States. We need to have friendly relations with them.
“But what we can’t do is have prime ministers, leading political figures, who look as if they’re being suborned. And there does seem to be a particular suborning that comes through football and free tickets for football; people wanting to go and watch matches.
“Well, they should pay for these tickets themselves. What they shouldn’t do is get them given to them and then have jolly entertainments afterwards. Their meetings should be formal. They should be minuted. That’s why we have a civil service.
“And so Manchester refers to ‘informal chats’. Another way of referring to an informal chat is an un-minuted meeting. Un-minuted meetings are quite risky for senior political figures because one side of the meeting can think that something different was said from what was in fact said, and things that you wouldn’t want civil servants to hear may be repeated.
“So I fear we’re getting into Sir Keir Starmer territory. Do you remember all that stuff about his suits and his spectacles and his wife’s dresses? It’s not that he is necessarily dodgy. It’s just allowing the appearance of impropriety to poison the well of trust in British public life.
“Prime ministers must be like Caesar’s wife and above suspicion.”
