UK politicians lobbied by Qatargate ‘controller’ on costly abroad journeys – POLITICO

LONDON — British MPs and friends have been lobbied by a key group on the coronary heart of a European Parliament corruption scandal throughout visits to Qatar forward of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

After the paid-for abroad visits, price hundreds of kilos, a number of of the U.Okay. politicians publicly praised Doha’s human rights file with speeches within the British parliament, regardless of issues raised by human rights teams in regards to the ugly working situations in Qatar and the deaths of hundreds of south Asian migrant development staff. 

The journeys reveal a brand new layer to Qatar’s in depth lobbying of Western politicians within the build-up to final 12 months’s World Cup, in addition to a previously-undisclosed toehold in London for a company now embroiled in the sprawling cash-for-influence Qatargate scandal which has gripped Brussels since December 2022.

British politicians have been a part of a number of delegations hosted by Qatar’s Nationwide Human Rights Committee (NHRC), now beneath scrutiny as one of many principal actors within the Qatargate affair.

The person who led the NHRC for over a decade till 2021, Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri, is described in an arrest warrant from the Belgian legal investigation because the “controller” of a bribery community of MEPs channeled by the alleged ringleader, former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri. 

Panzeri is at the moment beneath home arrest, having admitted “collaborating in corruption” as a part of a police investigation into whether or not Qatar illegally influenced the work of the European Parliament.

‘Lighting and heating’

Two friends — Liberal Democrat Qurban Hussain and non-affiliated peer Pola Uddin — traveled to Qatar in October 2022 on a visit paid for by NHRC. 

In the course of the go to, Hussain took half in a press convention by which he paid tribute to the Qatar authorities’s advances on human rights, in response to pictures and a report printed by NHRC.

On returning to London, Hussain famous in a Home of Lords debate that international staff in Qatar have been supplied with “lighting, heating and three-times every day cooked meals.” He stated that “the visiting group unanimously agreed that Qatar has made big progress in its reforms.”

He additionally described it as “encouraging” that Qatar had signed “a memorandum of understanding” with the EU on human rights — a reference to a secret cooperation deal revealed final month by POLITICO.

The settlement was signed in 2018 by NHRC and Panzeri, however the Parliament has since distanced itself from the doc, insisting it was by no means an official settlement. 

Having taken half in the identical journey as Hussain, Uddin made constructive feedback within the Home of Lords about Qatar’s group of the 2022 World Cup, highlighting “their impactful administration of followers.” She made no direct point out of human rights.

Each friends declared the journeys in accordance with Home of Lords guidelines, however weren’t required to reveal their worth. Related visits made by MPs have been valued at greater than £3,000 every. 

On a separate journey in 2020 paid for by the Qatari ministry of international affairs, the NHRC additionally lobbied a gaggle of British MPs — a number of of whom went on to laud Qatar’s efforts to enhance situations for staff in a parliamentary debate. 

The delegation was led by Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats’ house affairs and justice spokesman, and included Conservative MPs Alun Cairns, Adam Holloway and Jackie Doyle-Value, and the Labour MP Justin Madders.

Images of the go to present they met Al Marri, who left NHRC when he was appointed Qatar’s minister of labor in 2021.

Carmichael later advised the U.Okay. parliament in reference to earlier Qatari human rights violations: “There was by no means any excusing these breaches, however it’s important to notice that for the reason that daylight was shone on them, the previous line that daylight is one of the best disinfectant was proven to be a fairly true one,” including that staff’ lodging and healthcare had “considerably improved.”

Holloway stated it was “actually attention-grabbing” to see how “the Qataris have cracked down on rogue employers,” whereas Doyle-Value stated that on the subject of tackling oppression “we should be a bit much less holier than thou about it — it takes a very long time to foster cultural change.”

POLITICO has additionally discovered proof of earlier visits on which British parliamentarians met the NHRC in 2017 and 2018.

All of the MPs and friends named on this story have been contacted for remark, although none selected to take action. There isn’t any suggestion any of them broke U.Okay. parliamentary guidelines.

‘Pressing’ reform name

The lobbying of British lawmakers by international powers has been within the highlight since a sequence of tales final 12 months by POLITICO and different publications uncovered the dearth of regulation on this space.

The Home of Commons requirements committee has since proposed a ban on international governments operating all-party parliamentary teams (APPGs), however selected to not advocate tighter restrictions on donations within the type of worldwide hospitality. 

The European Parliament final week adopted non-binding pointers banning MEPs from taking official journeys to Qatar and Morocco whereas the corruption probe continues. MEPs are actually urged to hunt permission from the Parliament’s president earlier than inviting diplomats from these two nations onto the premises in Brussels or Strasbourg.

Daniel Bruce, chief government of Transparency Worldwide UK, stated: “That is one other instance of why MPs and Lords shouldn’t be allowed to settle for all-expenses-paid journeys funded by international governments and businesses. It’s far too simple for repressive states to attempt to court docket U.Okay. parliamentarians with a purpose to launder their reputations.”

He added that the foundations round who pays for international journeys “want tightening urgently.” 

Eddy Wax and Gregorio Sorgi reported from Brussels. John Johnston additionally contributed reporting.