Labour have accused Mayor Boris Johnson of snubbing an investigation into his £1bn deal with Chinese developers ABP to transform the Royal Albert Docks into a new business district.
Calls for an investigation were prompted by a Channel 4 news report making a series of allegations concerning the deal.
The broadcaster highlighted links between the firm’s London lobbyist and donations made to the Conservative party and raised concerns that ABP and the Mayor’s promotions agency, London & Partners, had offices at the same address.
It was also reported that a member of London & Partners staff had gotten a job with ABP soon after leaving the agency.
All parties have denied any wrongdoing and an investigation by City Hall’s audit team found that the tendering process complied with public sector procurement rules.
Some London Assembly Members are unhappy with the audit team’s findings and have called for the Mayor to establish an independent, external investigation into the deal.
Addressing Assembly Members last week, Mr Johnson said doing so “would be a complete waste of time and money,” adding “you in the Assembly, as you well know, are pretty handsomely remunerated to scrutinise what goes on in London.”
AMs subsequently voted to look into the deal and have asked for assurances that the Mayor will appear before the relevant Assembly committees.
In a letter to the Assembly chair, Mr Johnson said he would “ensure that as many of my Advisers attend as you require along with the lead GLA officials.”
He added: “I do not think it would be appropriate or necessary for me to attend in the first instance. I would of course be happy to answer any remaining questions you have at the end of the scrutiny reviews.”
Labour have accused the Mayor of “refusing to be held accountable”.
Len Duvall, their leader at City Hall, said: “The Mayor cannot hide behind his hastily prepared audit report. Not only does it fail to deal with some major questions but the report itself accepts it was only a ‘desk top review’ that did not interview some key players involved.
“If the public are to have any faith in big development deals like this, the Mayor is going to have to accept the need for transparency.
“That is why we desperately need an independent investigation to remove the politics from this and get to the bottom of the legitimate questions raised about the deal.”
