John B Sheffield

🚨 ANOTHER UAE LINK: BURNHAM URGED TO COME CLEAN OVER BROADBAND LOBBYING! Every voter in this country needs to see this. The Sun reports that when Andy Burnham was Manchester mayor in March, his office backed a merger between British firm Substantial and CityFibre. CityFibre is part-owned by an Emirati sovereign wealth fund, whose chief executive, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, is also the chairman of Manchester City. The UAE put £800 million into CityFibre in 2021-22 and will help inject a further £900 million. The Sun says Burnham’s office lobbied the Competition and Markets Authority on CityFibre’s behalf. Last month the CMA said a rival £2 billion bid by Nexfibre for Substantial would reduce competition. Shadow sports minister Louie French said the revelations “raise fresh concerns about Mr Burnham’s cosy relationship with Manchester City’s owners”. Downing Street declined to comment. This comes weeks after the Sun revealed Burnham had two hospitality dinners with Mubarak that were not originally declared. Burnham also said he would be “really concerned” if City’s Emirati owners sold the club. So here is the question for the Prime Minister: were you personally involved in lobbying the CMA for a company owned by the same people behind Manchester City?