Andy Burnham’s cosy Man City links raise serious questions over his plans to hand billions to regional mayors

Playing with fire on footie scandal Comment now Next ANDY Burnham has trapped himself in a maze over his cosy links to the mega-rich owners of scandal-hit Manchester City. The PM has only just realised his initial claim of one significant meeting with the cheating club’s chairman is simply not good enough. Andy Burnham has tied himself in knots over his cosy links to the wealthy owners of scandal-hit Man City City are being formally charged by the Premier League at a top-secret hearing Credit: Getty Advertisement City’s Abu Dhabi-based owners oversaw a regime which broke rules by secretly funnelling the best part of a billion pounds into the club’s coffers. Burnham, who held at least seven meetings with club execs, must realise that a scandal of this scale demands nothing less than absolute transparency. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Email address Please provide a valid email. Your info will be used in accordance with our Privacy Policy You'll now receive top stories, breaking news, and more, straight to your email. But the questions are not just for the PM. Today we reveal that while the club was being formally charged by the Premier League at a top-secret hearing, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was jetting off to Dubai for talks with the City chairman’s firm. READ MORE FROM THE SUN SAYS THE SUN SAYS PM must fix real problems Britain has – not open an insane Brexit can of worms THE SUN SAYS When will PM realise TikTok clicks are no substitute for facing challenges? He held more talks with the firm in Davos just weeks after the hearing ended, an event also attended by City’s boss Khaldoon Al Mubarak. This comes after Reynolds and Labour’s deputy leader Lucy Powell accepted trips to the Middle East costing thousands, paid for by the UAE government. The whole thing stinks. And Burnham must understand that questions over these sort of connections are only the beginning. Because they go to the heart of his entire devolution plan. Advertisement The PM wants want to give billions in taxpayer cash to regional mayors to spend however they see fit. That means local politicians up and down the country striking deals where public money will go to private companies. None of these deals will get the kind of laser-focused scrutiny that central Whitehall funding currently receives. So the potential for financial scandal is enormous. At the moment the PM hasn’t even been clear about dealings in his own back yard while Manchester mayor. So what chance will we have of knowing how taxpayer funds are being spent after his mass devolution to local councils? Advertisement Burnham needs to tell us. Because at the moment he has slipped on a self-inflated City banana skin. Work not welfare EVER wonder why Labour MPs will never vote for welfare cuts? Look no further than the stat that around a fifth of youngsters living in constituencies of Cabinet ministers are on out-of-work benefits. RECOMMENDED STORIES The figures are shocking but the answer is to reform the system to help them into work. Advertisement Not just keep throwing billions more at the problem in benefits. Comment now