When Manchester City FC were found guilty of 114 counts of financial foul play last month, Labour Prime Minister Andy Burnham said that he would be “really concerned to lose” their Emirati proprietors. It has now been revealed that during his time as Greater Manchester mayor, Burnham oversaw a £55 million taxpayer-funded loan to three Jersey-based companies controlled by the club’s owners. But as other Premier League teams express their own concerns over Burnham’s comments, I have uncovered further evidence of Labour Party links to Abu Dhabi.
Days before the Manchester City guilty verdict, chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak met with Andy Burnham’s Trade Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, at Downing Street. According to Electoral Commission records I have viewed, Reynolds has previously accepted £3500 of flights and accommodation paid for by the UAE government.
In 2018, Reynolds, a former Labour Friends of Israel vice-chair, was hosted on another overseas trip by the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before entering Parliament, he worked as an assistant to James Purnell, now Andy Burnham’s chief of staff.
Purnell resigned as chief executive of corporate lobbying firm Flint Global to join Team Burnham. Last June, Purnell hosted Reynolds and fourteen arms industry executives at an initially undeclared dinner.
Since Labour came to power, the firms that attended the dinner have been awarded 186 government contracts worth a total of £3.1 billion. Both Reynolds and Purnell gave speeches. A government spokesman described the failure to declare the meeting as an “administrative error”.
In 2023, Reynolds spoke alongside Josh Simons, who gave up his parliamentary seat for Burnham, and ex-Labour peer Peter Mandelson at a Labour Together event. The controversial organisation, now called ThinkLabour, contributed £22,186 to Burnham’s leadership campaign.
Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell has previously accepted £3500 worth of hospitality paid for directly by the UAE government. More recently, Manchester City FC have gifted Powell tickets on five separate occasions. In July, Andy Burnham promoted Powell to Education Secretary.
Powell’s deputy leadership bid received £10,000 from Labour Together donor Martin Taylor. In May, Powell was given FA Cup final tickets for Man City vs. Chelsea, paid for by the FA. In March, she was gifted Carabao Cup final tickets for Man City vs. Arsenal.
In 2018, then Labour MP Ian Austin accepted a donation worth £3800 from the UAE Foreign Ministry. Under Burnham, he now serves as Trade Envoy to Israel. Austin was re-appointed to the role by Reynolds, Burnham’s Trade Secretary and another recipient of a UAE government donation.
With the Prime Minister facing demands to disclose details of any meetings he had with the Manchester City owners, this story is not going away any time soon.