UK politicians lobbied by Qatargate ‘controller’
on expensive overseas trips
British MPs and peers praised Qatar’s human rights
record following visits to Doha worth thousands of pounds.
BY ESTHER
WEBBER, EDDY WAX AND GREGORIO SORGI
MAY 1, 2023
4:02 AM CET
LONDON —
British MPs and peers were lobbied by a key group at the heart of a European
Parliament corruption scandal during visits to Qatar ahead of the 2022 FIFA
World Cup.
After the
paid-for overseas visits, worth thousands of pounds, several of the U.K.
politicians publicly praised Doha’s human rights record with speeches in the
British parliament, despite concerns raised by human rights groups about the
gruesome working conditions in Qatar and the deaths of thousands of south Asian
migrant construction workers.
The trips
reveal a new layer to Qatar’s extensive lobbying of Western politicians in the
build-up to last year’s World Cup, as well as a previously-undisclosed toehold
in London for an organization now embroiled in the sprawling cash-for-influence
Qatargate scandal which has gripped Brussels since December 2022.
British
politicians were part of several delegations hosted by Qatar’s National Human
Rights Committee (NHRC), now under scrutiny as one of the main actors in the
Qatargate affair.
The man who
led the NHRC for over a decade until 2021, Ali Bin Samikh Al Marri, is
described in an arrest warrant from the Belgian criminal investigation as the
“controller” of a bribery network of MEPs channeled through the alleged
ringleader, former MEP Pier Antonio Panzeri.
Panzeri is
currently under house arrest, having admitted “participating in corruption” as
part of a police investigation into whether Qatar illegally influenced the work
of the European Parliament.
‘Lighting and heating’
Two peers —
Liberal Democrat Qurban Hussain and non-affiliated peer Pola Uddin — traveled
to Qatar in October 2022 on a trip paid for by NHRC.
During the
visit, Hussain took part in a press conference in which he paid tribute to the
Qatar government’s advances on human rights, according to photographs and a
report published by NHRC.
On
returning to London, Hussain noted in a House of Lords debate that foreign
workers in Qatar were provided with “lighting, heating and three-times daily
cooked food.” He said that “the visiting group unanimously agreed that Qatar
has made huge progress in its reforms.”
He also
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 last month by POLITICO.
The
agreement was signed in 2018 by NHRC and Panzeri, but the Parliament has since
distanced itself from the document, insisting it was never an official
agreement.
Having
taken part in the same trip as Hussain, Uddin made positive comments in the
House of Lords about Qatar’s organization of the 2022 World Cup, highlighting
“their impactful management of fans.” She made no direct mention of human
rights.
Both peers
declared the trips in accordance with House of Lords rules, but were not required
to disclose their value. Similar visits made by MPs were valued at more than
£3,000 each.
On a
separate trip in 2020 paid for by the Qatari ministry of foreign affairs, the
NHRC also lobbied a group of British MPs — several of whom went on to laud
Qatar’s efforts to improve conditions for workers in a parliamentary debate.
The
delegation was led by Alistair Carmichael, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs
and justice spokesman, and included Conservative MPs Alun Cairns, Adam Holloway
and Jackie Doyle-Price, and the Labour MP Justin Madders.
Photographs
of the visit show they met Al Marri, who left NHRC when he was appointed
Qatar’s minister of labor in 2021.
Carmichael
later told the U.K. parliament in reference to previous Qatari human rights
violations: “There was never any excusing those breaches, but it is significant
to note that since the sunlight was shone on them, the old line that sunlight
is the best disinfectant was shown to be a pretty true one,” adding that
workers’ accommodation and healthcare had “significantly improved.”
Holloway
said it was “really interesting” to see how “the Qataris have cracked down on
rogue employers,” while Doyle-Price said that when it comes to tackling
oppression “we need to be a bit less holier than thou about it — it takes a
long time to foster cultural change.”
POLITICO
has also found evidence of previous visits on which British parliamentarians
met the NHRC in 2017 and 2018.
All the MPs
and peers named in this story were contacted for comment, though none chose to
do so. There is no suggestion any of them broke U.K. parliamentary rules.
‘Urgent’ reform call
The
lobbying of British lawmakers by foreign powers has been in the spotlight since
a series of stories last year by POLITICO and other publications exposed the
lack of regulation in this area.
The House
of Commons standards committee has since proposed a ban on foreign governments
running all-party parliamentary groups (APPGs), but chose not to recommend
tighter restrictions on donations in the form of international hospitality.
The
European Parliament last week adopted non-binding guidelines banning MEPs from
taking official trips to Qatar and Morocco while the corruption probe
continues. MEPs are now urged to seek permission from the Parliament’s
president before inviting diplomats from these two countries onto the premises
in Brussels or Strasbourg.
Daniel
Bruce, chief executive of Transparency International UK, said: “This is another
example of why MPs and Lords should not be allowed to accept all-expenses-paid
trips funded by foreign governments and agencies. It is far too easy for
repressive states to try and court U.K. parliamentarians in order to launder
their reputations.”
He added
that the rules around who can pay for foreign trips “need tightening urgently.”
Eddy Wax
and Gregorio Sorgi reported from Brussels. John Johnston also contributed
reporting.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário