Boris Johnson is out in Saudi Arabia, urging Mohammed bin Salman to turn on the oil taps again. But the Prime Minister isn’t the only politician who’s been able to sample the delights of the Middle East this year. No less than nine of his parliamentary colleagues jetted out to the region last month, running up a total bill of more than £44,000 in flights and hospitality to Qatar and the UAE. The Qatar push is especially interesting, given the forthcoming World Cup scheduled to be held there. Some £15,460 was spent in February on flying four MPs including former Defence Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson out to the tiny Gulf state.
Indeed Qatar’s lobbying efforts in the UK since winning the right to host the FIFA tournament have been considerable. More than £259,000 has now been lavished on entertaining more than 30 British parliamentarians by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2016, the earliest point for which records are currently available. In the past year alone, 27 MPs and two peers have now visited the country, thanks primarily to the largesse of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Qatar, which is almost entirely bankrolled by the Qatari state. Qatar also provided more than £4,000 worth of tickets and hospitality to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July to four MPs, including Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
The Middle Eastern trips aren’t the only intriguing entries in the most recent register of members’ interests. Sir Gavin also enjoyed a £4,620 trip to Somaliland as part of his ongoing efforts to secure them international recognition. Michael Gove was given honorary membership of the Arts Club – once patronised by Dickens, Trollope and Kipling – while Theresa May got another £8,400 worth of hospitality from Heathrow Airport. Good thing she got that third runway vote passed. Naz Shah collected two £600 suits while Dawn Butler clearly needs to renegotiate her terms with Have I Got News For You: she got £1,500 for six hours as a panellist on the show while fellow Labour MP Jess Phillips was given £15,000 for twelve hours presenting it.
Up the workers eh?
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