In March 2019, Boris Johnson said on a live radio interview that investigating historic child sexual abuse is “spaffing money up the wall”.
In July 2019, Johnson appointed Jenrick as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.
As Housing Secretary, Jenrick was a loyalist, but faced intense pressure over the approval of a development for a Tory donor. Johnson stood by him, stating he had “full confidence” in him.
“Honest” 😉 Bob Jenrick has himself faced repeated accusations of wasting or misusing public money.
As Immigration Minister, he visited the Northeye site in November 2022 and led the rushed acquisition of a heavily contaminated former prison in East Sussex. The Home Office purchased the site for £15.4 million in September 2023 after Jenrick announced the plan in March 2023. The National Audit Office later criticised the deal as rushed and misjudged.
In 2020, it emerged that he had claimed more than £100,000 in taxpayer-funded rent and council tax for a constituency home in Newark that he appeared to use infrequently, and he had to repay invalid mileage claims.
As Housing Secretary, his department launched the Towns Fund in 2019 and faced criticism in October 2020 for allegedly biased allocations. His own Newark constituency received £25 million from the fund.
Other controversies, such as the Richard Desmond/Westferry planning approval (where he unlawfully fast-tracked a decision, saving the donor around £45m in levies before admitting apparent bias and reversing it), involved potential loss of public revenue (e.g., to Tower Hamlets council) rather than direct waste of existing funds.
“Honest Bob” has often positioned himself as an opponent of government waste, but these cases are clear evidence of hypocrisy during his ministerial roles.
It is nearly always projection with these selfish, manipulative, opportunistic bullshitting clowns.📽️
Streeting, Burnham and Rayner are pissing your money up the wall.