Robert Jenrick admits Israeli billionaire in donor row is family friend

Tory minister under pressure over meeting with Idan Ofer while considering rival mine project

Labour has called on the beleaguered housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, to explain a ministerial meeting with a “family friend” who had a financial interest in the future of a rival mining project that Jenrick was overseeing.

The Guardian revealed this week that Jenrick met the Israeli billionaire Idan Ofer while the then exchequer secretary to the Treasury was considering a request for financial support from Sirius Minerals for a mining project that would have rivalled Ofer’s own firm Cleveland Potash.

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