TORY minister Nadhim Zahawi has said anyone who wants access to a Tory politician can pay to attend a Conservative fundraising event.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4 this morning, Zahawi was attempting to defend his party amid a row over access to high levels of the Government.
The minister was asked why “Red Wall” Tory voters in former Labour strong-holds don’t have the same access to powerful figures as billionaire Richard Desmond.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick faces questions over his decision to approve a £1 billion development in London, planned by Desmond, despite opposition from a planning inspector.
READ MORE: Robert Jenrick watched housing development promo on Richard Desmond's phone
Jenrick gave the Westferry Printworks development the green light on January 14, just hours before a council levy that would have cost the developer £40 million kicked in.
Since then it has emerged that Desmond showed Jenrick a video of the scheme on his phone at a Tory fundraising dinner last year and texted him asking for it to be approved before the deadline.
Jenrick has insisted that although there could be an appearance of bias, there is not – and has now cancelled the approval.
Speaking to the BBC this morning, Zahawi said: "If people go to a fundraiser in their local area in Doncaster for the Conservative Party they’d be sitting next to MPs and other people in their local authority, and can interact with different parts of the authority."
Donors can join the Leaders’ Group to dine with the Prime Minister and senior ministers by giving the party £50,000 – but Tories say there is no undue influence.
Zahawi insisted there had been no wrongdoing. He told the presenters: “The important thing by the way is the access didn’t buy this billionaire a decision.
“The Secretary of State very clearly said to Richard Desmond ‘I can’t see you, I cannot have this meeting’.
“So you have to also be fair and make that clear that yes of course there was access, because there was a dinner party that Robert Jenrick didn’t know he was going to sit next to Richard Desmond in.
"But Robert Jenrick also said in those messages that he released… ‘I can’t have this meeting with you’."
Jenrick last night agreed to release correspondence relating to the development. The messages suggest the Housing Secretary first made contact with the billionaire after the dinner, but later told Desmond he could not discuss the scene.
But officials in Jenrick’s department made clear he wanted to issue approval before the levy was introduced on January 15.
Last night, he said: "These documents show that contrary to the wild accusations and the baseless innuendo propagated by [Labour], and restated today in a series of totally inaccurate statements and comments, this was a decision taken with an open mind on the merits of the case after a thorough decision-making process."
Former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake told the BBC he was pleased the documents had been released but added they raised “some troubling issues” about access and influence.
He went on: “I don't for a moment suggest the minister took his decision simply because of a donation to the Conservative Party.
"But the fact is, for the price of a dinner, the developer was able to present his scheme to the minister, follow up with texts and seek to influence the decision."
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