UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group
The UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group (UKBAPPG) was set up 'to promote international cooperation between the UK and Bahrain', and 'to develop friendship and understanding between our countries and to promote mutual economic and political aims'. [1]
Contents
People
Officers, September 2015
- Chair: Conor Burns - Conservative Party
- Vice-Chair: Bob Stewart - Conservative Party
- Vice-Chair: Lord Clive Soley - Labour
- Vice-Chair: Lord John Taylor Kilclooney - Crossbencher
- Vice-Chair: Baroness Pola Uddin - Non-affiliated
Members, September 2015
- Conservative Party - Lord Richard Balfe | Lord Richard Luce | Mark Menzies | Nigel Evans | Jack Lopresti | Flick Drummond
- Democratic Unionist Party - Jeffrey Donaldson [3]
Officers, March 2015
- Chair: Conor Burns - Conservative Party
- Vice-chair: Lord Nigel Jones of Cheltenham - Liberal Democrats
- Vice-chair: Ian Liddell-Grainger - Conservative Party
- Vice-chair: Thomas Docherty - Labour
- Vice-chair: Bob Stewart - Conservative Party
- Vice-chair: Lord John Taylor Kilclooney - Crossbencher
Members, March 2015
- Conservative Party - Alistair Burt | Mark Pritchard | David Morris | Stephen Metcalfe | Jake Berry | John Whittingdale
- Labour - Lord William Jordan | Dave Watts | Michael McCann | Steve Rotheram | Tom Greatrex | Gerry Sutcliffe | Lord Greville Janner of Braunstone | Lord Nazir Ahmed
- Non-Affiliated - Baroness Pola Uddin [4]
UK-Bahrain defence ties
In July 2014 it emerged that a Bahrain lobbyist had sponsored an entire table at that summer's Conservative Party fundraiser, including his own seat next to UK defence secretary Philip Hammond.
Lord Clanwilliam, chairman of PR and lobbying agency Meade Hall & Associates (formerly Gardant Communications, covered the £1000-a-head cost. His firm acts as secretariat for the UK-Bahrain APPG. Other attendees included:
- Conor Burns MP, chairman of the UK-Bahrain APPG and a former lobbyist for PMLR
- Dr Afnan Al-Shuaiby, chief executive of the Arab British Chamber of Commerce
- Richard Sharp, multi-millionaire and member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee
- John Hart, oil trader and CEO of Milo International [5]
Secretariat
Meade Hall, a private consultancy, acts as the group's secretariat, carrying out administrative tasks and planning meetings or group events.
Registered benefits
As of July 2015, Meade Hall had paid (in bands of £1,500) £1,501-£3,000 in registered benefits to the UKBAPPG. [6]
Contact
James Edwards, Office of Conor Burns
Address: House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA.
Telephone: 020 7219 7021.
Email: james.edwards@parliament.uk
Website
The UKBAPPG does not yet have an official website, but live updates and information can be found at the twitter handle @BahrainAPPG
Notes
- ↑ Register of 30 March 2015 Parliament website, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ ref needed
- ↑ List supplied upon request by James Edwards to Melissa Jones, Spinwatch, September 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Register of 30 March 2015, Parliament website, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ John Horne, Bahrain lobbyist paid for table at Tory fundraiser, bahrainwatch.org, 5 July 2014, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ Register of All-Party Parliamentary Groups as at 29 September 2015, Bahrain, www.parliament.uk, accessed 19 October 2015
