Burnham vows to publish all Manchester City dealings as mayor

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Andy Burnham has pledged to publish all his dealings with Manchester City from his time as Manchester mayor after saying he would be really concerned if the club’s owners had to sell up. Downing Street issued two clarifications on his position, and politicians demanded he come clean on meetings with people at the club.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told GB News the Prime Minister should share what he discussed with City officials. She said he should, that she was surprised he had not done so already, and that Freedom of Information requests should get everything out, asking what was being hidden. She added that his comments showed he still thinks he is the mayor of Manchester and is not acting like the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

Reform UK chairman Lee Anderson told the People’s Channel that the Prime Minister needs to detail what was said in the meetings with City’s owners. He said it is important that our Prime Minister is open and transparent, that Manchester City have cheated their way to success, and that Burnham should publish all the details of his meetings with the owners so the game is not held to ransom by the highest bidder.

Mr Burnham has now responded, saying he will put out there everything he had done to work with the club’s owners as mayor. He told the Rest is Politics that football issues are different from investment issues, that people are trying to conflate them, and that he is happy to publish details of his meetings after the opposition leader asked. He said none of it is recent, that he only had one significant meeting in 2021, and that he will put that all out there while the independent process on the football issues runs its course.

City were found guilty on September 25 by an independent commission over allegations covering the 2009-10 to 2017-18 seasons, including sponsorship arrangements described as part of a disguised funding scheme. The club lodged an appeal on October 1, saying the opinion contains clear material errors and is unsafe. A separate Appeal Board will hear the case under Premier League rules, with a hearing required within 12 weeks though the final timetable and outcome remain uncertain.

Original source: GB News