The housing secretary has admitted his decision to allow a controversial building project against the recommendation of officials appeared biased.
Robert Jenrick approved the Westferry Printworks development in east London on 14 January, a day before new rules would have increased the owners’ costs by up to £50m.
The site belongs to Northern & Shell, the company owned by former Daily Express proprietor Richard Desmond and which donated £10,000 to the Conservative Party in September 2017.
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Tower Hamlets council has now overturned Mr Jenrick’s decision to approve an expanded version of the scheme that included 1,500 homes, which went against the advice of planning inspectors. The council launched the challenge in March on the basis that Mr Jenrick’s decision appeared to have been “influenced by a desire to help the developer to avoid a financial liability”.
The government has now accepted that Mr Jenrick acted unlawfully, the council said in a statement released on Friday. Whitehall backed down to avoid having to release documents that may have shed light on how the housing secretary reached his decision, the authority said.
It said: “Following an agreement between all parties — the secretary of state, the developer, the Greater London Authority and Tower Hamlets council — the courts have agreed to a consent order quashing the decision.”
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1/50 26 May 2020
Members of the public relax on the beach at Botany Bay in Margate
Getty
2/50 25 May 2020
Dominic Cummings, senior aide to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, makes a statement inside 10 Downing Street, London, over allegations he breached coronavirus lockdown restrictions
AP
3/50 24 May 2020
A demonstrator holds a sign reading ‘Why are you above the law?’ outside the house of Dominic Cummings in London, following allegations Cummings broke coronavirus lockdown rules by travelling across the country
Reuters
4/50 23 May 2020
People take a walk near Durdle Door as cows graze in Lulworth
Reuters
5/50 22 May 2020
Waves break onto a wall at Brighton beach
Reuters
6/50 21 May 2020
Cafe owner Francini Osorio serves customers in a trial phase during the coronavirus lockdown. Osorio has installed an air purifier and 35 clear shower curtains, which will divide customers and tables, in the Francini Cafe De Colombia, Worcester, ready for the re-opening of his business as lockdown restrictions are eased
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7/50 20 May 2020
People at Bournemouth beach in Dorset, as people flock to parks and beaches with lockdown measures eased. The Met Office has predicted the hottest day of the year
PA
8/50 19 May 2020
A dog jumps into the water as families relax at a Lido in London
AP
9/50 18 May 2020
A fan celebrates outside Celtic Park after Celtic were crowned champions of the Scottish Premiership. Hearts were also relegated after a decision was made to conclude the season with immediate effect
PA
10/50 17 May 2020
People on Brighton beach after the introduction of measures to bring the country out of lockdown
PA
11/50 16 May 2020
Police lead away Piers Corbyn, brother of former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, as protesters gather in breach of lockdown rules in Hyde Park in London after the introduction of measures to bring the country out of lockdown.
PA
12/50 15 May 2020
Estonian freelance ballet dancer and choreographer, Eve Mutso performs her daily fitness routine near her home in Glasgow, Scotland
Getty
13/50 14 May 2020
Senior charge nurse Jan Ferguson views artwork “Theatre of Dott’s” by Kate Ive, inspired by Professor Norman Dott and his neurosurgery theatres at the Western General from 1960-2019. It is one of a number of artworks which sit on the walls of NHS Lothians’ Department of Clinical Neurosciences (DCN) which has been transferred into a purpose-built new home on the Little France campus in Edinburgh
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14/50 13 May 2020
Team GB’s karate athlete Jordan Thomas trains outside his apartment in Manchester
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15/50 12 May 2020
Nurses from central London hospitals protest on international nurses day about the chronic underfunding of the NHS and other issues surrounding the health service outside the gates of Downing Street, London
PA
16/50 11 May 2020
Waves crash at Tynemouth pier on the North East coast
PA
17/50 10 May 2020
A woman passes street art and a poster in East London
Reuters
18/50 9 May 2020
Police patrol the beach in Brighton
Getty
19/50 8 May 2020
The British Royal Air Force Red Arrows conduct a fly past over the statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in London to commemorate the 75th Anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE Day) in Britain
MOD/Reuters
20/50 7 May 2020
Team GB sailor Eilidh McIntyre during a training session at her home in Portsmouth
Reuters
21/50 6 May 2020
Labour Party leader Keir Starmer listens to Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaking during PMQs
UK Parliament/AFP/Getty
22/50 5 May 2020
The sun appears to explode over the horizon in this montage of images captured by photographer Nick Lucas near his home in Ringwood, Hampshire. Nick took a number of pictures just a few seconds apart on a tripod mounted camera which were then combined to give the eye catching dawn image
Nick Lucas/SWNS
23/50 4 May 2020
Leeds Green Watch firefighters observe a minute’s silence outside the fire station in Kirkstall Rd, in memory their colleagues that lost their lives in the line of duty
PA
24/50 3 May 2020
Staff at The Berkeley hotel give food to ambulance workers
Reuters
25/50 2 May 2020
One of a small group of anti-lockdown protesters speaks to a police officer as they gather outside New Scotland Yard in Victoria, London
AFP via Getty
26/50 1 May 2020
Bonnie the Llama grazes in a field in the Scottish Borders alongside a sign supporting the NHS as the UK continues in lockdown
PA
27/50 30 April 2020
Colonel Tom Moore and his daughter Hannah celebrate his 100th birthday, with an RAF flypast provided by a Spitfire and a Hurricane over his home in Marston Moretaine. Colonel Moore, formerly a Captain, received a promotion in honour of his birthday and in recognition of the funds, in excess of £30m, he raised for the NHS by walking laps of his garden
Capture the Light Photography/Getty
28/50 29 April 2020
Britain’s Labour leader Keir Starmer speaks during Prime Minister’s Questions, as members of Parliament observe social distancing due to the coronavirus, in the House of Commons, London, Wednesday, April 29, 2020
UK Parliament/AP
29/50 28 April 2020
NHS staff at the Mater hospital in Belfast, during a minute’s silence to pay tribute to the NHS staff and key workers who have died during the coronavirus outbreak
PA
30/50 27 April 2020
The sun rises behind redundant oil platforms moored in the Firth of Forth near Kirkcaldy, Fife. Global oil prices have crashed after the coronavirus pandemic reduced demand, with analysts warning that the oil majors may be looking at one of their biggest quarter-on-quarter profitability hits in history.
PA
31/50 26 April 2020
Frankie Lynch celebrates on the Mall where the finish of the London Marathon was due to take place today after running 2.6 miles instead of 26 miles to raise money for The Running Charity
Reuters
32/50 25 April 2020
A muslim woman walks past balloons outside the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London
Reuters
33/50 24 April 2020
An empty Brighton Pier, closed during the Coronavirus pandemic as temperatures reach 20 degrees in the South East
Rex
34/50 23 April 2020
Farmers work with vehicles to prepare a field next to a field of flowering rapeseed near Pontefract, West Yorkshire
AFP/Getty
35/50 22 April 2020
The Northern Lights, the Milky Way and a Lyrid meteor at the Bathing House near Howick, Northumberland, as the Lyrid meteor shower reached its peak
PA
36/50 21 April 2020
Badger the Border Collie surrounded by bluebells at Shrawley Wood in Worcestershire
PA
37/50 20 April 2020
A dog walker on Blyth beach in Northumberland
PA
38/50 19 April 2020
A piece of coronavirus themed street art grafitti in East London
AFP via Getty
39/50 18 April 2020
Members of the City Specialist Cleaning team spray disinfectant around posts in the town centre of Eastleigh, Hampshire
PA
40/50 17 April 2020
A taped-up bench in the hamlet of Diglea, Greater Manchester
AFP/Getty
41/50 16 April 2020
A woman wearing a protective face mask and gloves walks past graffiti in Bow, London
Reuters
42/50 15 April 2020
A burned down mobile phone mast in London. According to reports, at least 20 mobile phone masts across Britain are believed to have been vandalised and government and telecom sources are increasingly concerned about the impact of conspiracy theories linking coronavirus to 5G networks
EPA
43/50 14 April 2020
The new Nightingale Hospital in Washington, Tyne and Wear, being fitted out
PA
44/50 13 April 2020
Walkers enjoy the bluebells in Wanstead Park in London
PA
45/50 12 April 2020
A woman prays at the closed doors of Westminster Cathedral ahead of the Easter morning mass in London
PA
46/50 11 April 2020
A man jogs on an empty beach in Scarborough as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus
PA
47/50 10 April 2020
Military personnel testing people at a coronavirus test centre in the car park of Chessington World of Adventures
Reuters
48/50 9 April 2020
Posters drawn by children displayed in support of the NHS in a building near St Thomas’ Hospital in London
Getty
49/50 8 April 2020
A street cleaner in front of Coronavirus messaging on Picadilly Circus in London
Getty
50/50 7 April 2020
A jogger on the Millennium Bridge in London, as the UK continues in lockdown to help curb the spread of the coronavirus
PA
Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs added in the statement: “We may never know what emails and memos the secretary of state received before making his decision and what influence they had, but his reluctance to disclose them speaks volumes.
“In siding with the developer, he went against not only the planning inspector but also the council’s strategic development committee and the residents whose lives would be directly impacted by this scheme.”
The original version of the Westferry Printworks project contained 722 homes and was approved by Boris Johnson when he was mayor of London.
A spokesperson from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said in a statement: “While we reject the suggestion that there was any actual bias in the decision, we have agreed that the application will be redetermined.”
In the High Court consent order, seen by The Times, Mr Jenrick conceded his 14 January decision letter displayed “apparent bias”. The housing secretary added that its timing “would lead the fair-minded and informed observer to conclude that there was a real possibility” he was biased in favour of the developer.
