Boris Johnson is out in Saudi Arabia, urging Mohammed bin Salman to turn on the oil taps again. But the Prime Minister isn’t the only politician who’s been able to sample the delights of the Middle East this year. No less than nine of his parliamentary colleagues jetted out to the region last month, running up a total bill of more than £44,000 in flights and hospitality to Qatar and the UAE. The Qatar push is especially interesting, given the forthcoming World Cup scheduled to be held there. Some £15,460 was spent in February on flying four MPs including former Defence Secretary Sir Gavin Williamson out to the tiny Gulf state.
Indeed Qatar’s lobbying efforts in the UK since winning the right to host the FIFA tournament have been considerable. More than £259,000 has now been lavished on entertaining more than 30 British parliamentarians by the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2016, the earliest point for which records are currently available.
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