Labour calls on parliamentary watchdog to investigate Robert Jenrick after Westferry papers revealed

Approval for the Isle of Dogs scheme was given one day before the local council introduced Community Infrastructure Levy charges that would have cost Mr Desmond £40m. Other estimates suggest that it saved Mr Desmond a further £105m by reducing the ratio of affordable homes, therefore increasing the amount that could be sold at premium rates.

Mr Reed added: “The prime minister has yet again shown woefully poor judgement by not referring clear breaches of the ministerial code to the cabinet secretary and he must now come clean himself about his own involvement in this case.”

The housing secretary has been dogged by questions of impropriety regarding his involvement after it emerged that he had sat next to Mr Desmond at a Conservative Party fundraiser where the developer had shown him a promotional video on the scheme.

Mr Jenrick has repeatedly said that he refused to discuss the matter with Mr Desmond but text messages he was pressured to publish show that both men were aware that approving the application by 15 January 2020 would save Mr Desmond millions.

After being challenged on the timing of the decision by Tower Hamlets Council, Mr Jenrick accepted that his approval was unlawful on the grounds of “apparent bias” despite claiming earlier that he would contend such a claim.

Inside Housing has picked out seven key things we learned from the release of the Westferry Printworks papers.