‘Cash for favours’ brings trouble for Johnson

Bloomberg

A member of Boris Johnson’s government and a “cash for favors” dispute he’s embroiled in has become the latest political headache for the premier after a difficult few months battling the coronavirus pandemic.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick, under fire since it emerged that he approved a planning development from businessman Richard Desmond who later donated money to the Conservative Party, released documents showing he’d exchanged text messages with Desmond prior to the decision.
The UK’s main opposition Labour Party described the events as a “cash for favours” scandal. Jenrick told the House of Commons any allegations that his view on the construction project could have been swayed by meeting Desmond were “wrong” and “outrageous,” and said he knew “nothing” of the donation.
The closeness of Jenrick’s contact with Desmond adds to the controversy around the episode, which has seen calls for his resignation and risks further damaging the popularity of Johnson’s Conservative Party. Despite winning a strong majority six months ago, the Tories’ poll standing has declined as the UK has recorded one of the highest coronavirus death tolls in the world.
Questions over Jenrick’s actions follow the backlash over Johnson’s key aide Dominic Cummings, who was the focus of a media frenzy and became a national talking point after allegedly breaking lockdown rules, as though there’s one rule for the governing elite and another for the masses.
Labour accused Jenrick of rushing through approval of Desmond’s project — a 500-apartment, 44-storey development at Westferry Printworks, a former printing plant in east London — to help the businessman avoid paying a
new community infrastructure
levy that was to be imminently introduced.