Robert Jenrick: Housing secretary refuses to answer questions over unlawful help for Tory donor’s property scheme

Scandal-hit cabinet minister Robert Jenrick has refused to turn up in the Commons to answer questions about his go-ahead for a billionaire Tory donor’s property scheme, it has emerged.

Labour attempted to summon the housing secretary to defend the decision – subsequently ruled unlawful – but he sent a junior minister instead.

The no-show is certain to pile further pressure on Mr Jenrick, after the murky affair remained partly shrouded by the coronavirus crisis – especially after he was spotted on the parliamentary estate.

In January, he approved Richard Desmond’s plan to build 1,500 homes on the site of a former printworks on east London’s Isle of Dogs – overturning rejections by the local council and independent inspectors.

The decision came just a day before changes to the planning system which would have cost the developer’s company Northern & Shell an extra £30m-£50m.

It has now emerged that Mr Desmond donated £12,000 to the Tories on 29 January, having shared a table with Mr Jenrick at a Conservative fundraising dinner last November.

Labour has demanded the housing secretary publish all correspondence related to the planning decision, warning that there must be no “cash for favours”.

Ahead of the urgent question, it also urged Mr Jenrick to:

* Clear up whether he disclosed his earlier conversation Mr Desmond to his department’s top civil servant ahead of the go-ahead – and, if not, whether this breached the ministerial code;

* Explain why he did not recuse himself from any decision-making in the application process, given his relationship with the developer; and

* State what contact he, or his officials, had with the developer or his representatives regarding the £30m-50m saving.

MPs were told that Christopher Pincher, the junior housing minister, would answer questions in Mr Jenrick’s place – with no explanation given.

Ministers have repeatedly insisted there has been no wrong-doing, without explaining how that squares with Mr Jenrick’s admission that his decision broke the law.

After the council mounted a High Court challenge, he accepted it had been “unlawful by reason of apparent bias” and agreed he would take no further part in decisions about the application.

Later, Boris Johnson’s spokesman said the prime minister has “full confidence” in Robert Jenrick, but declined to say why he had declined to face questions in the Commons.

Mr Jenrick’s department has declined to answer questions about Mr Desmond’s donation, referring queries to the Conservative Party, and Northern & Shell did not respond to requests for a comment.

A Tory party spokesperson said: “Government policy is in no way influenced by party donations – they are entirely separate.

“Donations to the Conservative Party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.”