British Prime Minister Andy Burnham is facing renewed scrutiny over his past dealings with Manchester City after records showed he attended two hospitality dinners hosted by the club’s chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, when he was mayor of Greater Manchester.
According to the BBC, the dinners took place at the Etihad Stadium in August 2017 and April 2018. Their emergence has intensified calls for Burnham to provide a comprehensive account of his interactions with the club.
The hospitality arrangements were not specifically identified in a statement published on Monday by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which outlined Burnham’s meetings and interactions with Manchester City during his time as mayor.
Previous declarations showed that Burnham attended a dinner with Al Mubarak and then-Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese during an Everton match in August 2017. The hospitality was valued at £300.
A separate entry recorded a dinner with the City chairman during the Manchester derby in April 2018, valued at about £699.
Burnham had also declared both dinners and two tickets worth £150 to see singer Ed Sheeran perform at the stadium in May 2018.
However, the register containing the declarations has since been removed from the GMCA website.
The BBC reported that the authority’s policy was to publish only declarations from the current mayoral term.
The broadcaster has asked the GMCA to explain the policy, noting that some records dating back to 2022 remain available online, despite the current mayoral term beginning in 2024.
The scrutiny comes after an independent commission found that Manchester City breached Premier League financial regulations, prompting questions about whether the club’s alleged financial misconduct had been discussed during its dealings with public officials.
During Prime Minister’s Questions, Burnham told MPs that the club had not raised the allegations with him.
He said: “They did not raise those issues with me.”
Burnham maintained that he was willing to disclose details of his dealings with the club and had asked the GMCA to publish a statement outlining his key interactions with its owners.
He said: “It is why I asked the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), 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.”
He added: “That statement was published on Monday, and it includes the issues in the news today.”
The GMCA statement listed a formal meeting between Burnham and Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit in October 2021, arranged by the Department for International Trade.
It also mentioned an informal encounter between the two men in the stands during a 2019 testimonial match for former Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany.
The statement further disclosed that Burnham had attended a small number of Manchester City home matches as a guest of the club, but it did not specifically identify the two dinners.
Downing Street defended the hospitality, describing the dinners as benefits received at home matches that had been declared rather than separate meetings with the club chairman.
However, opposition politicians have continued to demand greater transparency over Burnham’s relationship with Manchester City.
Conservative shadow sports minister Louie French said Burnham had promised to provide a full account of his dealings with the club.
French said: “Andy Burnham promised the country and House of Commons full transparency on his dealings with Manchester City.
“This was essential after his inappropriate intervention into football.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has also called on Downing Street to release details of meetings between Burnham and senior figures at the club.
Speaking on The Rest Is Politics podcast last week, Burnham said he was prepared to make details of his interactions with Manchester City public.
He said: “I’ve been asked by the leader of the opposition to publish details of my meetings, which I’m happy to do and I’m going to.”
Burnham added that he had held only one significant meeting with the club, in 2021.
The controversy follows an independent commission’s finding that Manchester City breached Premier League financial regulations over a nine-year period between 2009 and 2018.
The commission found that the club had used what it described as “sham” contracts with commercial partners to channel more than £830m into its football operations.
Manchester City denies wrongdoing and has appealed the findings, while sanctions have yet to be announced.
Earlier this month, former Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese defended a decade-old agreement between the council and Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), the company linked to the club’s owners.
A University of Sheffield report said land had been leased to ADUG at rates below comparable market levels.
The latest disclosures have renewed scrutiny of the relationship between public officials and Manchester City’s ownership, with opposition politicians continuing to call for more information about meetings and hospitality involving the club.
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