TORY MINISTER PLEDGES TO HELP INFOSYS GROW BUSINESS IN UK
RISHI Sunak should learn from Labour and stamp out Liz Truss’ “party within a party”, a Shadow minister has warned.
Ms Truss, who was Britain’s shortest-serving PM, will launch a group named Popular Conservatism this week.
Alongside Tory allies Jacob Rees-Mogg and Ranil Jayawardena, the group will seek to “restore democratic accountability to Britain and deliver popular
‘Get a spine and stamp out Truss’
conservative policies”. But Labour’s Jon Ashworth branded it “dangerous and deluded”.
Mr Ashworth said: “They know how weak Sunak is. They know he won’t do anything about them.
“They know he either adopts their madcap plans or they can get rid of him. Until he locates the backbone to stand up to them, they will continue to push him around.”
The Shadow Paymaster General added: “Since 2019, we in the Labour Party have put country above party and working people above all else. Rishi Sunak must learn from that.”
He said the PM must choose between “putting the country first” or continuing to “bury his head in the sand…to save his own skin.
“Labour chose change.
That’s why people believe in us once again.”
A TOP Tory told the Prime Minister’s wife’s family firm he would “do what he could” to ensure the company’s growth in the UK.
We used Freedom of Information laws to force the Government to release details of a meeting between business and trade minister Lord Dominic Johnson and Infosys, the Indian tech company in which Mr Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty has shares.
Her shares earned her £13m last year and help make her husband the UK’s wealthiest-ever Prime Minister.
The papers disclose how the peer told the firm’s executives he was “keen to see a bigger Infosys presence in the UK and would be happy to do what he could to facilitate that”.
Lord Johnson said: “We value the relationship with Infosys and will continue to engage at a Ministerial level when requested of us.”
Labour yesterday blasted the document as damning. It said the Government had serious questions to answer about giving “VIP access” to a business so personally close to the PM. The Lib Dems demanded full transparency.
SECRET
Details of the meeting in India last April had not been released until we asked for them – and its revelation follows our story last week on how Infosys was potentially in line for millions in public money after being put on an “approved list” of suppliers for public sector contracts worth more than £750million.
At the meeting, Lord Johnson steered Infosys on how to obtain UK visas for its staff and “reassured” them on the prospects for the UK economy.
His officials reported that “despite Brexit”, Infosys wanted to further boost its £1.8bn-a-year UK business.
The PM’s wife owns £624m shares in the IT giant founded by her father. Together with her brother and mother, the family own £2.4billion in shares.
Now Infosys is planning to increase its workforce in the UK – its secondbiggest market – by 20% to 6,000.
One of the firm’s biggest investors is Somerset Capital, co-founded by Lord Johnson, a major Tory party donor.
He resigned from the firm when he joined the government. Mr Sunak re-appointed him as Trade Minister after he became PM in October 2022.
The India meeting in April 2023 also included discussions over the free trade agreement (FTA) being negotiated between India and the UK and how it would benefit Infosys. In the briefing notes for
Johnson, one bullet point says: “Reassure that the
FTA will further create new opportunities and investor friendly policies to support business growth.”
Shadow Paymaster
General Jonathan
Ashworth told us: “After the Tories handed billions in taxpayers’ cash to cronies for duff PPE, the public will wonder why an outfit so personally close to Rishi Sunak appears to have been granted this VIP access. There are serious questions to answer.”
Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper added: “This Government seems intent on wrecking the public’s trust in politics. The public has a right to know what the Government is up to.
“We must have full transparency of all government dealings with a firm so closely linked to the Prime Minister.”
Lord Johnson’s four-day trip to India cost the Department for Business and
Trade £8,167. Infosys was one of 10 firms selected for face-to-face time with the peer. During the one-hour meeting at Infosys’ HQ in Bengaluru, formerly called Bangalore, Lord Johnson was given a bouquet of flowers, a tour and lunch.
He was joined by Daniel Gieve, chief executive of the Office for Investment, which was launched by Mr Sunak when he was Chancellor.
In his “steering brief ” in the document, Lord Johnson was told Infosys was a Tier 1 investor and that he needed to “acknowledge their commitment to the UK and engagement with senior UK visitors”.
The document added that: “Despite Brexit and the pandemic, Infosys has not stalled their UK growth plans. It would be good to reassure them on the prospects for the UK economy and remind them of the support we can provide through DBT [Department for Business and Trade].”
Notes from the meeting state that an Infosys exec told Lord Johnson the UK is their second-largest market, with 6,000 employees and more than 100 clients.
They added that “talent was one of the attractions of the UK, but it was hard to find enough skilled people”.
Johnson “outlined the mobility schemes available which Infosys could take advantage of, particularly the High Potential Individual visa scheme”. This allows holders to stay in the UK for two years.
SECURITY
Two out of Infosys’ top 10 executives are UK-based. They include a company president, Mohit Joshi, paid £5.4m last year, and Karmesh Gul Vaswani, head of consumer, retail and logistics, who was paid £2.2m.
Infosys has UK offices in London, Edinburgh and Nottingham and specialises in consulting, outsourcing and IT, including cyber security and cloud services. Infosys did not respond to a request for comment.
A Department for Business and Trade spokesman told us: “The Investment Minister regularly meets businesses and international investors – including a range of Indian businesses – to champion the UK as an investment destination and secure commitments worth billions of pounds.
“That engagement drives investment across the UK, creating thousands of high-quality jobs and boosting the UK economy.” We revealed last week that Infosys is one of 25 firms named on a new £250m contract issued by NHS Shared Business Services last month for so-called “intelligent automation”.
It is also one of 62 suppliers lined up for a potential share of up to £562.5m in
contracts from the
Financial Conduct Authority for IT services, released in October.
These so-called “framework agreements” allow public bodies to directly award contracts without further tendering. No awards have been made, but Infosys may be in line for millions in taxpayers’ money.
Lord Johnson is a former Tory vice-chairman who has given £319,391 to the party. In December, we revealed Somerset Capital Management LLP owns a £1 05m stake in Infosys.
The Department for Business said Lord Johnson had resigned from Somerset Capital before becoming a minister.
A spokesman added: “The ministerial code was followed at all times.”
We must have full transparency of all government dealings with a firm so closely linked to the PM