Prime Minister Andy Burnham has revealed what he described as an unfair treatment of Everton while pushing back against claims he downplayed the seriousness of the financial charges facing Manchester City.
He insisted that the legal process must be allowed to run its course without political interference.
PM defends his record after week of criticism
Burnham, a boyhood Everton supporter and former Mayor of Greater Manchester, found himself under fire last week after voicing concern about the prospect of City’s Abu Dhabi owners walking away from the club.
Several senior figures in football and Westminster accused him of being too soft on a club found guilty of breaching the Premier League’s financial rules.
Asked directly whether he had played down the gravity of the findings, the Prime Minister was unequivocal.
He told the BBC: “No, I haven’t downplayed the seriousness of the findings. They are findings that need to be considered with great care and seriousness, and then the process that considers them needs to be fully independent.
“I said that last week, and I will repeat it again. I think it’s incumbent on everybody now to let the process run its course.
“I was asked a question about wider investment. I think it’s important to separate the football issues from wider investment. The football issues have to be looked at fully, and that is without question.”
Burnham draws on Everton experience to urge caution
Rather than retreat from the comparison that first landed him in trouble, the Prime Minister doubled down on it, pointing to his own history of campaigning for Everton after the Toffees were docked points for breaching the Premier League’s profitability and sustainability rules.
“Everton was in this position a few years ago, and you might remember that I fought for Everton in that situation because I still hold the view very firmly that they weren’t fairly treated in that process,” he said.
He went further, suggesting that hindsight had vindicated his stance on Everton’s case.
“I remember people proclaiming Everton guilty at the time, and with hindsight, I think more people would say that wasn’t fair, the way that was handled, so it would be wrong of me to leap to one side given the experience that I’d had before becoming Prime Minister.”
That history is precisely why some of his critics have struggled to accept his assurances.
Having spent years as a vocal champion of Everton’s cause against the Premier League, and having equally championed City’s economic footprint in Manchester as mayor, Burnham now finds himself needing to convince football world that he can be neutral in his judgment.
City’s case, centred on alleged breaches of financial rules dating back to the 2009-10 and 2017-18 seasons, has dragged on for years and remains one of the most consequential disciplinary processes in the Premier League’s history.
An independent commission has already returned findings against the club, with the precise sanctions still to be determined. According to Burnham, the situation must be shielded from exactly the kind of political noise his own comments have generated.
