Observer Qatar lavished British MPs with gifts ahead of World Cup MPs who received gifts later appeared to speak favourably about Qatar in parliamentary debates A banner of England’s Harry Kane on a building in Doha, Qatar Shanti Das Sat 29 Oct 2022 19.05 BST Qatar has spent more money on gifts and trips for British MPs in the past year than any other country, according to Observer analysis that reveals the Gulf state’s lobbying efforts ahead of next month’s football World Cup. The Qatari government made gifts to members of parliament worth £251,208 in the 12 months to October 2022, including luxury hotel stays, business-class flights and tickets to horse-racing events. The value of Qatar’s gifts was greater than the amount spent by the 15 other countries whose governments made donations to British MPs combined. And it was more than six times the £37,661 in gifts and hospitality given to MPs by the United Arab Emirates, the second-highest foreign government donor. The gifts for the past 12 months also far outstripped those from Qatar in any other year for which records are available, revealing how authorities ramped up efforts to charm British MPs ahead of the World Cup. Records show MPs declared about £100,000 worth of gifts and hospitality from Qatar in the five years to October 2021, but more than double that in the last 12 months alone. Alun Cairns Alun Cairns, Conservative MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, has set up a group to ‘foster good relations between the UK and Qatar’. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA Transparency International said it was “extremely concerning” that MPs were accepting “thousands of pounds worth of hospitality from foreign governments with questionable human rights records” and that this could “leave the door open to undue influence.” There is no suggestion that any MP broke rules, however. In some cases, MPs who received freebies later appeared to speak favourably about Qatar in parliamentary debates, or to deflect attention away from issues that the authorities have been keen to downplay. During a debate about preparations for the World Cup earlier this month, Alun Cairns, who chairs an informal parliamentary group set up to “foster good relations between the UK and Qatar”, made a speech praising Qatar, including “paying tribute” to its response to the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. Cairns, Tory MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, initiated the debate on 20 October and later shared videos of it on Twitter alongside a Nelson Mandela quote: “Sport has the power to change the world.” Records show he received £9,323 worth of donations from the Qatari government in 2022, for a five-day trip in February to meet officials alongside other members of the Qatar all-party parliamentary group (APPG), and for a trip a month later to attend the Doha Forum policy event. Tory MP David Mundell Tory MP David Mundell accepted hospitality worth £7,473 from Qatar for a trip last October. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images the Commons Committee on Standards, has warned that parliament is “particularly vulnerable” to foreign influence, saying during a debate in December that “we ought to be cognisant of the danger that a foreign power might be seeking to lobby … through the back door.” Bryant is one of the MPs who accepted a donation in kind from Qatar in the form of an expenses-paid trip but told parliament in May that he regretted doing so. He has advocated for US-style rules which bar members of Congress from accepting donations and gifts from foreign governments. All visits abroad are paid for by Congress. Advertisement Relations between the UK and Qatar have strengthened in recent years. In May, the then prime minister, Boris Johnson, announced a “strategic investment partnership”, which will see Qatar invest in key sectors of the UK economy over the next five years, including fintech, life sciences and cybersecurity. Downing Street said the deal would create new UK jobs and was worth up to £10bn. Days later, the Ministry of Defence announced it would be funding counter-terrorism training for Qatar’s military ahead of the World Cup. Throughout the tournament, the RAF and Royal Navy will provide air and sea support. Last week, foreign secretary James Cleverly was criticised after telling gay football fans they should be respectful in Qatar, which criminalises their sexuality, when attending the World Cup. Speaking on LBC’s Nick Ferrari at Breakfast show, he suggested they show “a little bit of flex and compromise” and be “respectful of the host nation”. Labour called the comments “shockingly tone-deaf”.
Been busy today Goldie? Incendiary devices thrown at Dover migrant centre Share please log in to view this image The fire at the Dover immigration centre was put out by the emergency services Flammable devices have been thrown at a Border Force migrant processing centre in Dover, Kent. A man drove up to the centre and threw three petrol bombs
Whilst the UK is providing more in terms of military hardware, other countries are helping more on the humanitarian level Goldie. Once inside the EU refugees from the Ukraine are granted unlimited travel within it and Berlin central station is seeing about 10,000 new arrivals every day - Germany has already seen about a million from the Ukraine - all of whom have to be housed and medically screened (the latter because the Ukraine has one of the worst records for Tuberculosis Worldwide). Personally I would rather help on this level rather than ploughing weapons into the country - many of which end up on the black market. I understand that we should support countries to help them defend against aggressor states but please let it be a general principle applying in all cases - by the same logic we should have been supplying weapons to Iraq in order to defend itself - or to several other victims of American aggression. How long are we prepared to go on pumping weapons in to help the Ukrainians take back territory which may want to be Russian ? An end solution to this crisis can only see a partition of the Ukraine along ethnic lines - anything else just leads back into the civil war conditions which they had before the Russians moved in - except that the whole country is much more weaponized than it was then.
Helping on a humanitarian level doesn’t elicit profit for the weapons manufacturers and arms industry. It also helps to destroy a countries infrastructure, as we can then give money to certain companies to go back in afterwards and rebuild the infrastructure that we’ve ourselves destroyed. There are vast profits to be made from warfare.
Anyone who chucks bombs at other people should be considered a nutter, I would have thought. Not sure why the police are not considering it to be a terrorist attack, though.
So then by that definition you would consider all terrorists as “nutters” ? Would you consider, say, the terrorist/freedom fighters of the ANC as “nutters” ? After all, they bombed and killed innocent people for what many would consider a cause that justified the means. Not looking for a row with you personally Strolls, or in fact anyone in particular. Just find the whole thing quite interesting as to where we, as people, decide what cause is justifiable of violence and where we draw the line.
Well yeah, there may be causes for which some would consider violence could be justified. I can't think of many, though. It'll be interesting to find out what this fella's motivation was and why the attack shouldn't be considered terrorism. Perhaps he was a freedom fighter.
You see that’s my point Strolls, is it just up to the individual to decide what they consider to be a cause justifiable of violence ? Or should we say…no violence is ever justifiable or that violence is justifiable (or maybe understandable) under all circumstances whether we agree or disagree with the cause. And to your second point…..I would suggest that if his motivation was to spread “terror” then he should be called a “terrorist”……though I’m guessing there are a few who might call him a “freedom fighter”. But does that make him mentally ill (a nutter) just because we find his cause abhorrent ? Just seems an easy cope out to me.
