LONDON — A small cluster of British MPs are making foreign visits collectively worth tens of thousands of pounds every year, paid for by private companies or overseas governments with dubious human rights records.
The visits largely arise out of the MPs’ memberships of “country APPGs” — obscure, cross-party groups set up by backbench MPs to forge closer links with foreign nations, which POLITICO is currently investigating.
MPs involved insist All-Party Parliamentary Groups can play valuable roles in building links abroad, and that their overseas trips complement their duties as domestic lawmakers.
But there are huge discrepancies in the amount of time different MPs choose to dedicate to this type of overseas travel, with trips frequently taken while parliament is sitting as well as during recess periods.
Analysis by POLITICO found there are currently around 10 “super members” who have signed up for roles with 20 or more different “country APPGs.” Some have accepted dozens of free trips overseas during their time in parliament, paid for by foreign governments or businesses.
Collectively, this small group of backbench politicians have made overseas visits worth more than £453,000 since entering parliament, according to official records. The true figure is likely higher, since MPs were only obliged to start declaring the value of gifts and hospitality in 2009.
The data includes:
Seven trips by Conservative MP Martin Vickers on which he was accompanied by his wife, or by an unnamed member of staff.
Three trips by Labour’s John Spellar of six days or more, including a week-long visit to Singapore.
£70,800 worth of trips by Tory MP Mark Menzies since he entered parliament in 2010, including six different trips in the calendar year 2016 alone.
One trip to Hong Kong by the SNP’s Angus Brendan MacNeil worth £10,359 — the most expensive single trip.
20 trips in 17 years by Daniel Kawczynski, including visits to Morocco, Albania and Mauritania paid for by mining and chemical manufacturing companies.
Thirteen trips over the last seven years by the SNP’s Lisa Cameron, including two trips to New York in the space of three weeks.
Three trips to Sri Lanka and three to the Maldives by the DUP’s Ian Paisley Jr.
£84,680 worth of trips by Tory MP Mark Pritchard since he entered parliament in 2005. He made six foreign trips in 2015 and seven in 2016, and has visited Qatar three times in the last three years.
Sixteen trips to Gibraltar by Andrew Rosindell since he became an MP in 2001, sometimes more than once a year, as well as to a total of 29 other countries.
Ten trips by Conservative MP Sheryll Murray accompanied by an unnamed member of staff.
There is a wider pattern of these MPs traveling frequently to countries known as tax havens, petrochemical producers or luxury destinations — including the Channel Islands, Gulf States, San Marino, and the Norfolk Islands in the Pacific.
MPs’ contributions about these countries in parliament have been varied: some praised the places they had visited; some did not mention them at all; while others accepted the hospitality of foreign governments they had previously criticized.
Almost all the visits declared were worth £1,000 or more.
The trips were all publicly declared in accordance with parliamentary rules about gifts and hospitality, but campaigners have raised questions over MPs’ overseas activities.
Rose Whiffen, a spokesperson for Transparency International, said that while APPGs could help inform debate, they are “a well-known route for private companies and foreign governments to gain direct access to MPs and peers.”
She added: “These findings highlight why there should be tighter limits on MPs and peers accepting foreign travel. There is a clear risk that overseas trips funded by foreign governments could give rise to the perception — or reality — that the judgement of parliamentarians is influenced by the generosity of their hosts.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, added: “Constituents will be asking whether all of these trips are really necessary.
“While these trips have not been on the taxpayers’ dime, they have been on the taxpayers’ time. MPs must ensure that travels abroad do not disrupt responsibilities at home.”
MPs contacted by POLITICO, however, insisted the overseas trips were a legitimate and valuable part of their work as backbench members, and that the trips were often spread out over many years in parliament. They said itineraries were packed with political and cultural visits which can enhance understanding of foreign issues and help forge closer ties.
Vickers said: “Exchange visits by parliamentarians are essential in building the relationships between the U.K. and other nations,” and noted that he had paid for his wife’s travel except in the case of a recent visit to Gibraltar.
Nevertheless, many of the trips are paid for by countries with controversial records on human rights, such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia, while some of the bodies paying for the trips have links to authoritarian regimes, such as the European Azerbaijan Society.
A former Foreign Office minister said that “for a certain group of MPs who may not have many career prospects, these trips are seen as essentially recreational — a nice way to pass the time.”
A report by the House of Commons standards committee earlier this year found that “a dramatic increase in the number of APPGs … has created the conditions for inappropriate influence and access” which could “represent the next great parliamentary scandal.”
The committee found that, when it came to trips overseas, “it is difficult to avoid the imputation” that foreign governments are attempting “to buy a good opinion” of their country or their government, noting that elected representatives in some other countries are not allowed to accept such hospitality.
One of the MPs, Ian Paisley Jr, has previously been reprimanded over his failure to properly declare foreign trips.
Graham Lanktree contributed reporting.