The government’s attempts to assist Saudi Arabia’s controversial takeover of the British Premier League football team Newcastle United included a personal intervention by a Tory minister, documents obtained exclusively by openDemocracy have revealed.
It appears to contradict Boris Johnson’s claim in Parliament last year that the government had no involvement with the sale, which was heavily criticised due to Saudi Arabia’s record for human rights abuses.
Correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act shows that Lord Gerry Grimstone promised the Premier League he would secure a response from “the highest levels of the Saudi government” to the takeover plan.
