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-February 2016
- 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 [2] [3]
Members, September 2015
- Conservative Party - Lord Richard Balfe | Lord Richard Luce | Mark Menzies | Nigel Evans | Jack Lopresti | Flick Drummond
- Democratic Unionist Party - Jeffrey Donaldson [4]
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 [5]
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 [5]
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 PLMR
- 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 [6]
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 registered (in bands of £1,500) £1,501-£3,000 in 'benefits in kind' to the UKBAPPG. [7]
Contact
The public enquiry point for the group is James Edwards from the 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 have an official website. Its twitter account @BahrainAPPG does not appear to have been active since 2012. [8]
Notes
- ↑ Register of 30 March 2015,www.parliament.uk, accessed 19 October 2015
- ↑ UK-Bahrain APPG Register Sep 15www.parliament.uk, accessed 7 October 2015
- ↑ UK-Bahrain APPG Register Feb 16, www.parliament.uk, accessed 18 February 2016
- ↑ List supplied upon request by James Edwards to Melissa Jones, Spinwatch, September 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 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
- ↑ Last accessed 20 October 2015
