Burnham pledges disclosure of Manchester City dealings

Andy Burnham says he will publish details of his dealings with Manchester City while he was Greater Manchester mayor, following criticism of his comments about the club’s owners after an independent commission found financial-rule breaches. Burnham said he had only one significant meeting with the club’s representatives, in 2021, and promised to disclose his work with the owners. The disclosure was promised in an interview for The Rest Is Politics podcast, which was scheduled for release on Monday, October 12. Burnham said the meetings were not recent and that he would make public everything he had done to work with the owners in his previous role. The promised material was not included in the reports available on Sunday. The controversy followed Burnham’s earlier remarks that he would be concerned if Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi owners sold the club. He had credited them with contributing to the development of modern Manchester. His comments drew calls from opposition politicians for details of his contacts with the club and prompted Downing Street to clarify that the findings against City were serious.