Lobbying was a persistent theme of 2021 as first David Cameron and then Owen Paterson found themselves embroiled in various scandals over their paid activities. So it was with some trepidation that Mr S examined the first register of All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs) of 2022. These informal cross-party organisations have been involved in all sorts of shenanigans over the years. What have they been up to in recent months?
A close inspection revealed some interesting gems. Theresa May’s office is bankrolling the ‘First Do No Harm’ campaign, being the sole donor of some £20,000 towards the APPG’s efforts on securing safer medical devices for women in pregnancy. British American Tobacco is the only funder of the corporate governance group while a series of sports-themed APPGs run by controversial firm Three Lines Sport has declared multiple jollies to the Open Golf Championship and the British Grand Prix.
The APPG on China meanwhile is being funded by companies with business interests in the country. Six donors have donated £38,500 since March 2021, including HSBC, whose chief executive Noel Quinn was accused by MPs last year of aiding Beijing in its crackdown on Hong Kong. HSBC is one of the largest financial groups in the region and generates more than two thirds of its profits from Asia. It has donated some £57,000 in financial benefits and benefits in kind to the APPG since March 2015. The group’s invitation to the Chinese ambassador to speak at its summer reception last year was derailed after Speaker Lindsay Hoyle intervened.
John Swire & Sons Ltd – run by scions of the famous Swire family – has meanwhile chipped in £8,000 since March, bringing their total over the past seven years to £39,000. Law firm DLA Piper, which gave £2,500 over the past 11 months, is working on a major China-Zimbabwe mining deal. Oxford Instruments, which has provided the country’s laboratory facilities with advanced cryogenic systems, donated the same sum. The other two donors are China-based design manufacturer Arup and the City of London Corporation. Both gave £6,000.
Such sums, though, pale in comparison when one looks at the thousands being donated by the Qatari regime. The APPG on Qatar registered the second highest number of ‘benefits in kind’ out of more than 750 groups in Parliament. Between £198,000 to £202,500 has been given since October 2021 – at least £193,500 of which came from the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This was used to fly no less than 22 MPs on the APPG out to the country in October last year, to discuss ‘preparations for the World Cup’ among other issues. More than 6,500 migrant workers have died since the country was awarded the tournament in 2010 – many of whom will have been working on tournament infrastructure projects.
Among those on such a trip was Chris Bryant, chair of the Committee on Standards, who had previously suggested an ‘alternative’ World Cup should be considered when he was shadow culture minister. Qatar also provided more than £4,000 worth of tickets and hospitality to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July to four MPs – including Lindsay Hoyle – while the Qatar International Academy for Security Studies paid for Conservative MP Mark Pritchard to attend its Global Security Forum in Doha in October. Commons records only go back six years, with a previous MPs trip to Qatar in 2016 totalling £51,000.
Sadly for those who enjoy such freebies, the golden era could be coming to an end. Bryant’s committee is probing APPGs while Hoyle is reportedly considering a ban on foreign governments funding these groups. All this comes amid questions about the Qatar APPG’s own funding structure. Not for nothing did last month’s contest to elect a new chair of the group produce a record turnout, with an astonishing 91 MPs casting votes in an election which would typically attract a dozen.
Get on that World Cup gravy train while it lasts, eh lads?
Comments