MPs demand answers to 26 questions from Jenrick over Westferry

摘要

The chair of an influential committee of MPs has written to housing secretary Robert Jenrick demanding answers to dozens more outstanding questions in relation to the controversial decision to approve the £1bn Westferry Printworks scheme against the advice of officials. Housing and local government select committee chair Clive Betts wrote to Jenrick yesterday with 26 detailed questions related to the decision on the 1,500-home scheme, and demanding that Jenrick appear in front of the committee to explain his actions on July 13. Prime minister Boris Johnson declared the matter "closed" last week despite the publication of a cache of documents revealing extensive contact between Jenrick and the scheme's promoter, Tory donor and media mogul Richard Desmond. The documents show Jenrick sped up the processing of the application in order to allow Desmond to avoid payment of a planning levy worth up to £50m. They also show he contacted the department to speed up the decision within 48 hours of having had dinner with Desmond at a Tory fundraising event.