Andy Burnham's office backed a broadband deal that would benefit a UAE fund headed by the chairman of scandal-hit Manchester City, it emerged today.
In the latest link between the Prime Minister and the oil-rich Gulf state, in March, the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) supported a merger between a British business and one part-owned by the Emiratis.
At the time, Mr Burnham was Mayor of Greater Manchester, although insiders insist he wasn't personally involved in the decision.
The proposed deal involved CityFibre – part-owned by an Emirati sovereign wealth fund of which Manchester City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak is chief executive – buying a British broadband company called Substantial.
It comes as Mr Burnham faced calls to come clean about how close he was to the football club after he said he would be 'really concerned to lose' its UAE owners when the club was found guilty of systematically breaking Premier League finance rules over a decade.
He also described the Emiratis as 'a huge partner in the building of modern Manchester'.
However the PM was accused of misleading the public after it emerged that dinners and freebie tickets had not been disclosed after he pledged to reveal 'everything that I have done' relating to Manchester City during his time as mayor.
Today shadow sports minister Louie French MP said the latest revelations raised 'fresh concerns about Andy Burnham's time as Mayor of Greater Manchester and his cosy relationship with the owners of Manchester City'.
Andy Burnham (right) pictured with Manchester City Chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak in 2019
The latest controversy comes amid two rival bidders trying to buy Substantial, which provides business-to-business broadband services.
A £2billion bid has already been submitted by Nexfibre, which is jointly owned by Liberty Global and Telefónica, which also own Virgin Media O2.
It argues that it is in a stronger financial position to see the deal through than loss-making CityFibre.
The UAE's sovereign wealth fund, Mubadala, is one of CityFibre's three largest shareholders, having ploughed at least £800million into the company.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has been investigating amid fears about too much of the broadband market being in the hands of too few companies.
According to the Sunday Telegraph, in March, officials from the GMCA told executives from Substantial that they would be recommending to the CMA that CityFibre be the preferred bidder.
Last month the CMA published an interim report saying it would prefer CityFibre as the successful bidder because a Nexfibre takeover would reduce competition in the broadband market.
It said it had received 'a large number of submissions' expressing concern over the consequences.
However, Nexfibre has argued that the CMA report is 'fundamentally flawed', saying there are questions about its rival's 'financial viability'.
Today the GMCA stressed that its decision to support CityFibre was down to securing 'the best possible value for our residents' rather than being linked to its ownership.
'Informed by our publicly available policy documents, and consistent with the CMA's interim findings, we are supportive of any operators in the market who will increase competition, improve resilience and keep prices low,' it said in a statement.
'We believe that having at least three providers of broadband infrastructure operating in residential areas will maintain this.'
CityFibre said its performance demonstrated the 'ongoing, fundamental strength' of its business, with an extra £900million committed and customer numbers growing.
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