Sun probe: Labour MPs took almost £300,000 of UAE and Manchester City hospitality
Almost £275,000 of UAE-funded trips and £14,000 of Manchester City tickets and hospitality went to Labour politicians, a Sun investigation found, raising fresh questions about the party's links to the Gulf state weeks after City's guilty verdict.
Labour politicians have received almost £300,000 in hospitality from the United Arab Emirates and Manchester City, according to a Sun investigation published on Friday, raising fresh questions about the party's links to the Gulf state.
The probe found MPs accepted around £275,000 in luxury trips and flights laid on by the UAE, way ahead of the other political parties, alongside £14,000 of Manchester City tickets and hospitality. The British Bulletin, reporting the same probe, put the UAE figure at £273,396.
The deputy leader, Lucy Powell, is the biggest individual beneficiary of City's hospitality. The MP for Manchester Central, whose constituency covers City's Etihad stadium, accepted free tickets to five matches over an 11-month period worth £2,360, including an £840 VIP ticket to watch City play Newcastle United at the Etihad in March 2024.
Taxpayers will be concerned to hear that politicians are receiving gifts that may lead to conflicts of interest.William Yarwood, TaxPayers' Alliance, quoted in The Sun, 9 October 2026
Andrew Western, the Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, accepted tickets to four matches, including two VIP hospitality tickets for the Community Shield at Wembley in August 2024 worth £880. After Mr Burnham entered Downing Street in July, Mr Western was promoted to a ministerial post in the Department for Work and Pensions.
Jeff Smith, the MP for Manchester Withington, was a guest of the club on four occasions, including a £1,798 ticket for the FA Cup final against Manchester United in May 2024.
The figures are drawn from MPs' Register of Interests entries. Since 2012, UAE government ministries, royal offices and state-funded bodies have spent more than £467,000 across at least 78 entries, an average of almost £3,000 a month, with £23,519 registered in 2026 alone. Donors named include the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Abu Dhabi Education Council and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
The findings land weeks after an independent commission found City guilty of more than 100 serious breaches of Premier League financial rules. The club denies wrongdoing and has lodged an appeal.
Mr Burnham was heavily criticised for saying he would be “really concerned” to lose City's owners after the verdict was announced. He later clarified: “I think it's important to separate the football issues from wider investment.”
The probe also lists hospitality received by Mr Burnham himself: £105 of Massive Attack tickets at Manchester's Co-op Arena, part-owned by City Football Group, in June 2025, and four £440 Courteeners tickets at the same venue in November 2024. Further MTV European Music Awards tickets at the arena were provided by an unclear source, the Sun reports.
William Yarwood of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: “Taxpayers will be concerned to hear that politicians are receiving gifts that may lead to conflicts of interest. Politicians who are elected to serve taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of integrity and avoid any conflicts of interest.”
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