Protest at MP Robert Jenrick's Herefordshire manor house

Photo: Extinction Rebellion Herefordshire

The Housing Secretary previously had to defend his actions in April after driving 150 miles from his London property to his 17th century manor house in Herefordshire, from where he then travelled to his parents in Shropshire.

He has again hit the headlines over a £1 billion development, facing calls to resign after documents revealed he was “insistent” the controversial development was agreed before a new levy would cost its Tory donor backer millions.

The Newark MP over-ruled a planning inspector to approve the development of more than 1,500 flats on the east London site of the former Westferry print works in January.

But Tower Hamlets council challenged the decision, which was later ruled unlawful by the High Court on the grounds of "apparent bias" in the decision-making process.

On July 5, Extinction Rebellion protesters from across Herefordshire gathered at Mr Jenrick's home in Eye, near Leominster, to protest the property deal, which they say deprived some of the poorest people in Britain of millions.

In a gesture of solidarity, they said they are twinning with the London borough of Tower Hamlets.

“We are standing in solidarity with the people of Tower Hamlets, the nurses, the bus drivers, the delivery workers, fellow citizens who carry out such essential work on our behalf" said Maddie Budd from Kington.

“It seems there’s one rule for the rich, another for the poor.

"We call on our local MPs, Bill Wiggin and Jesse Norman, to condemn Mr Jenrick’s behaviour. Mr Jenrick should finally do the honourable thing and resign.”

Photo: Extinction Rebellion Herefordshire

After the decision to permit the land deal, applicant Richard Desmond made a donation of £12,000 to the Conservative Party.

The Commons housing committee has asked Mr Jenrick to appear before them to answer questions about his involvement with the case and transparency in the planning process.

“We are uplifted that our friends across the country in Herefordshire are willing to call attention to this injustice and stand with us in solidarity. We see no solution to the climate and ecological emergency without social justice and equality,"said Cleodie Rickard, a Tower Hamlets Extinction Rebellion campaigner.

"We see how the worst effects of this emergency affect the poorest and most marginalised. In Tower Hamlets, seven percent of all deaths in people over 30 are attributable to particulate air pollution, and our children’s lungs are 10 percent smaller than average for their age."

"Many are quite rightly asking why Robert Jenrick is still in post after the recent revelations around the Westferry Printworks planning decision. Mr Jenrick has failed to answer the serious questions raised about his involvement and his relationship with Richard Desmond.” said Kyrsten Perry, Tower Hamlets Councillor for Canary Wharf ward, where the potential development is located.