Deleted records have revealed that British Prime Minister Andy Burnham attended two hospitality dinners with Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak while serving as Greater Manchester mayor.
The BBC reported that the dinners took place at the Etihad Stadium during matches in August 2017 and April 2018. However, they were not specifically mentioned in a statement released by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) on Monday about Burnham’s dealings with the club.
A previous register listed a £300 dinner with Al Mubarak and former Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese during an Everton match in August 2017. Another recorded a dinner worth about £699 during the Manchester derby against Manchester United in April 2018.
Burnham had also declared £150 tickets to Ed Sheeran’s May 2018 concert at the stadium. The register has since disappeared from the GMCA website.
Downing Street defended the dinners, saying they were declared matchday hospitality, not separate meetings.
However, Tory shadow sports minister Louie French demanded full transparency, citing Burnham’s “inappropriate intervention into football”. Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick said “this saga stinks”, while Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged Downing Street to publish details of Burnham’s meetings with club officials.
Burnham promised to disclose his engagements, saying he would “quite clearly put out there everything that I have done working with them in my previous role as Mayor of Greater Manchester”. He said his only significant meeting with the club was in 2021.
Manchester City was found guilty of financial rule breaches between 2009 and 2018, including “sham” contracts involving more than £830m. The club denies wrongdoing and has appealed, with sanctions pending.
Separately, a University of Sheffield report said Manchester City’s owners leased land at “below comparable rates” under an agreement with the local authority. Former council leader Richard Leese defended the deal.
