MPs with snouts in Saudi trough
CRISIS-torn Saudi Arabia has lavished hundreds of thousands of pounds on British MPs, the Mail can reveal.
The kingdom – under international fire over the suspected state-sponsored murder of a journalist – has been pouring cash into a charm offensive.
In only two years it has tripled the amount of money spent on MPs to pay for luxury hotels and business-class flights.
Campaigners say 38 MPs who got freebies over the past five years are ‘accessories’ to a cynical bid to brush up the oil-rich Gulf nation’s tarnished image. Saudi Arabia’s slick PR offensive comes as it battles condemnation over the suspected murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul.
The kingdom is also under intense scrutiny for staging bombing raids across Yemen that have killed thousands of civilians.
In 2016, British parliamentarians accepted £35,062 of junkets, gifts and other benefits from the authoritarian regime. But this year the figure is more than three times higher at £106,418 – and it is only October. The total since 2015 has been put at £208,000.
The Mail’s investigation into MPs’ financial links with Saudi Arabia came as:
Donald Trump said it ‘certainly
SIMON HOARE & HELEN WHATELY
After a £3,187-a-head junket to Riyadh in 2017, North Dorset Tory MP Mr Hoare and Mrs Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, defended Saudi without declaring their financial interest. In a Commons debate, Mr Hoare suggested ‘a quiet conversation’ would be better than ‘shouting’ at the regime. Mrs Whateley said: ‘The Government of Saudi Arabia are taking steps to improve their actions on human rights.’
STEPHEN METCALFE
The Conservative MP for South Basildon was among four MPs who each declared £7,802 for ‘flights, transport, food and accommodation’ to visit Saudi. He said: ‘I accepted on the basis it broadened my knowledge of Saudi Arabia.’
MARK GARNIER
The Tory MP for Wyre Forest went on the same four-day visit. Afterwards he wrote: ‘We should not force another society to adopt all our values.’
MARK MENZIES
Mr Menzies, Tory MP for Fylde, led a delegation to Riyadh in 2017. He wrote: ‘The close relationship the UK has...means that we have more diplomatic clout.’
PHILIP HAMMOND
The Chancellor accepted a £1,950 watch, despite a ban on ministers receiving gifts worth more than £140. He declared the ‘private gift’ from one of Saudi’s richest men after the unveiling of a statue of the Queen in his constituency. His spokesman said that civil servants had advised him the gift was not related to him being a minister.
CHARLOTTE LESLIE
The ex-Bristol North West MP accepted a £500 Christmas hamper in 201 . She later went on a £ ,722 trip to Riyadh ‘to strengthen diplomatic relations’.