ETHNIC CLEANSING

Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist by January, say separatist leaders

Roland Oliphant
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Samvel Shakhramanyan announced the dissolution on Thursday - Photolure/National Assembly of Republic of Artsakh

The breakaway republic of Nagorno-Karabakh will cease to exist from Jan 1, its leaders have announced, after Azerbaijani forces overran the region and forced tens of thousands of ethnic Armenians to flee.

Samvel Shakhramanyan, the separatist region’s president, announced its dissolution on Thursday, ending a 30-year struggle for independence from Baku.

The announcement came as the number of people fleeing the region reached 75,000, in what Armenian officials have described as “ethnic cleansing”.


It marks the formal end of the Nagorno-Karabakh project and the intractable frozen conflict there which lasted nearly three decades after the end of the first Armenian-Azeri war in 1994.

Mr Shakhramanyan said in his decree that “all state institutions and organisations under their departmental subordination by January 1, and the Republic of Nagorno Karabkah (Artsakh) ceases to exist.”

Residents were instructed to “familiarise themselves with the contusion of reintegration presented by the Republic of Azerbaijan,” it added.

Ruben Vardanyan, the former head of government, was accused of illegally crossing the border - Reuters

He said the decision followed the Russian-brokered agreement with Azeri officials ensuring “free voluntary and unhindered travel” via the Lachin corridor to Armenia.

Armenian officials said on Thursday afternoon that 75,000 of the 120,000 population had crossed into Armenia since Sunday.

Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian prime minister, said the number was expected to rise and that there would likely be no ethnic Armenians left in Nagorno-Karabakh in the coming days.

“This is an act of ethnic cleansing of which we were warning the international community about for a long time,” he told a cabinet meeting.

Azerbaijan’s foreign ministry denied ethnic cleansing and said Baku had appealed to local residents to stay put.

Nikol Pashinyan said there would likely be no ethnic Armenians left in the coming days - EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“We call on Armenian residents not to leave their homes and become part of Azerbaijan’s multi-ethnic society,” it said in a statement.

Russia, traditionally an ally of Armenia, said it was “closely monitoring” the situation but refused to condemn Azerbaijan’s actions.

“There is no direct reason for such actions,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said of the exodus.

“People are nevertheless expressing a desire to leave... those who made such a decision should be provided with normal conditions.”

He said that Russian peacekeepers continue to assist people in the area and that Russia had “taken notice” of the decree dissolving Nagorno-Karabakh.

It came as the United Nations called on Azerbaijan to respect the rights of a former leader of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.

Residents gather in central Stepanakert to leave Nagorno-Karabakh

 - David Ghahramanyan/Reuters

Ruben Vardanyan, a former Nagorno-Karabakh leader, was arrested by Azeri border guards while trying to evacuate to Armenia on Wednesday.

Azerbaijan’s state security service said on Thursday that he was being charged with financing terrorism and illegally crossing the border.

Azerbaijan’s predominantly ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorno-Karabakh won de facto independence from Baku in a war marked by ethnic cleansing and massacres between 1988 and 1994.

The conflict remained “frozen” until 2020, when Azerbaijan launched a six-week blitzkrieg to recapture the area.

A second 24-hour assault overran the remaining Armenian controlled areas on Sept 19 this year.

Rishi Sunak’s wife Akshata Murty to wind down venture capital fund

Kalyeena Makortoff
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

Rishi Sunak’s wife, Akshata Murty, is winding down her startup investment fund, months after questions were raised over its links to taxpayer-funded schemes.

Murty’s venture capital fund, Catamaran Ventures UK, gave little detail, only saying that its directors “have decided to liquidate the company”, according to its latest filings at Companies House.

Sunak’s wife used Catamaran Ventures UK to invest some of the vast wealth she derives from her 0.91% stake in her father’s Indian IT business, Infosys, which earlier this year was worth £590m.

Related: Rishi who? Sunak slips down pecking order in G20 scramble to court India

However, the fund’s operations came under scrutiny when it emerged that a number of the startups it backed received cash injections through taxpayer-backed schemes, or owed money to HM Revenue and Customs.

That included the upmarket furniture firm, New Craftsmen, which collapsed into liquidation in November 2022 after receiving £300,000 in taxpayer-funded loans handed out under policies that Sunak put in place while he was chancellor.

Catamaran also backed the education firm Mrs Wordsmith, which secured £1.3m from the Future Fund, a £250m investment scheme, designed by Sunak, that was intended to help small startups ride out the pandemic. Under the scheme, the government extended loans that would then convert into shares when the companies attracted new funding.

Mrs Wordsmith collapsed six months after receiving the funding, owing £249,000 to HMRC.

Another of its investments, the fitness chain Digme Fitness, fell into administration in 2021, after having received Covid furlough payments of up to £630,000. It also owed more than £6.1m in VAT and PAYE taxes.

Catamaran also put money behind Study Hall, an education technology business which is still trading, that was given a government grant of £349,976 from the arm’s-length body Innovate UK in 2022.

Murty’s financial arrangements have been an ongoing point of contention during Sunak’s time in Downing Street.

The prime minister came under criticism after it was revealed that Murty held “non-dom” tax status, allowing her to legally minimise tax on dividends from Infosys, which were worth £11.5m in the last financial year. She subsequently agreed to pay tax in the UK on her worldwide income.

Her shareholding in the childcare company Koru Kids later became a source of controversy, after the prime minister was found to have breached parliament’s code of conduct by failing to declare it while being questioned by MPs earlier this year . Koru Kids was among six private childcare providers poised to benefit from a pilot scheme proposed in the budget to incentivise people to become childminders. However, parliament’s commissioner for standards said the breach was inadvertent.

The Guardian contacted No 10 for comment regarding the wind-down of Catamaran Ventures UK.

Sunak declines to endorse Braverman’s claim multiculturalism has ‘failed’

CANADA DISPROVES THAT CLAIM

Sam Blewett, PA Deputy Political Editor
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Rishi Sunak has repeatedly declined to endorse Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s claim that multiculturalism has “failed” in her hardline speech on immigration.

The Prime Minister instead praised the UK’s “fantastic multicultural democracy” on Thursday, saying the nation has done an “incredible job of integrating people”.

Ms Braverman has sought to downplay suggestions that her speech in the US was paving the way for a future bid to surpass her boss as the Tory leader.

The Home Secretary said she is working ‘hand-in-hand’ with the PM (PA)

The Cabinet minister warned of what she sees as an “existential threat” of uncontrolled migration as she called for reform of international refugee rules.

She argued the “misguided dogma of multiculturalism” had “failed because it allowed people to come to our society and live parallel lives in it”.

Ms Braverman suggested it has allowed them to “pursue lives aimed at undermining the stability and threatening the security of our society”.

But Mr Sunak, the first British PM of Indian heritage, repeatedly declined to back her comments during a round of regional broadcast interviews ahead of the Tory conference.

Asked by BBC East Midlands political editor Tony Roe if he agreed with Ms Braverman, Mr Sunak said: “I think that this is something that is incredible about this country, is that it is a fantastic multicultural democracy.

“We have done an incredible job of integrating people into society and one of the lovely things about getting the job I have, as the first person from my background to hold this job, that’s a wonderful thing, but it’s also not a big deal in our country.

“I think that speaks to the progress we’ve made over the years and how far we’ve come and something we should all be collectively incredibly proud of.”

Asked if the Home Secretary was wrong, Mr Sunak said it is “important that everyone subscribes to British values” but that he believes “our country has done an incredibly good job of integrating people from lots of different backgrounds”.

Westminster observers suggested that Ms Braverman’s speech in Washington seemed like a pitch to the Tory right, in case Mr Sunak leads the party to defeat at the next general election.

But Ms Braverman, whose parents migrated from Mauritius and Kenya, told the PA news agency that such suggestions were “slightly flippant” and insisted she was working “hand-in-hand” with Mr Sunak.

Her remarks were criticised by some Conservative MPs, including Tobias Ellwood.

He told ITV’s Peston they were “clearly designed for a particular audience and don’t do the Prime Minister any good”.

A Labour spokesman said: “Weak Rishi Sunak has allowed his Home Secretary to swan off around the world delivering messages to some of our closest allies that he’s not onboard with.

“It’s official, his premiership is beyond tired, it’s redundant. This is not just embarrassing. It’s bad for Britain and they should call an election now.”

HINDUISM IS FASCISM
Disabled Muslim man lynched in Delhi after eating at Hindu temple


Namita Singh
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Representational image of police walking along streets in New Delhi, India (AFP via Getty Images)

A Muslim man was beaten to death in India’s national capital after he stole a small amount of food from a temple, police said.

Isar Mohammad, 26, was tied to a pole, tortured and beaten to death in New Delhi on Tuesday. He had been accused of taking some prasad (food offerings) and Rs 20 (20p) from a pile of offerings made by devotees of the Hindu deity Ganesha at a temporary installation during the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.

In a graphic video purporting to show the incident that went viral on social media, five men can be seen beating Isar as he cries out in pain, pleading for them to stop.


Police said Isar had been unable to explain himself or reason with temple officials because he had a mental disability.

“He was cold like a dead body when he was brought back to our house. Seeing him like that, I too died with him,” his sister Umrana Mohammad told news portal The Quint.

The incident came to light after his father Abdul Wajid informed the police on Tuesday night, shortly after Isar succumbed to his injuries. The family said he was not a thief and had picked up the food from the offering because he was hungry.

The authorities have registered a murder case in the matter and arrested seven people, including Kamal, 23, his brother Manoj, 19, Yunus, 20, Kishan, 19, Pappu, Lucky, a food stall owner, and a 17-year-old who has not been named, reported the outlet.

A police official on the condition of anonymity told The Quint that there was no religious motivation for the crime.

“The accused claimed that around 5am, they caught Isar lurking around the area and thought that he was a thief,” Joy N Tirkey, a top police official, was quoted as saying by The Indian Express newspaper.

“They asked him questions but he was unable to reply properly since he was mentally challenged. They then tied him to an electric pole and thrashed him.”

The victim’s father told police that Isar was lying outside the house and writhing in pain, with injury marks all over his body, when he was found. He was brought home by one of their neighbours and died from his injuries shortly after, reported the Press Trust of India.

A post mortem report showed blunt-force injuries all over the victim’s body, including his head, back, arms and legs, reported The Indian Express citing a police source. The cause of death was said to be “shock and haemorrhage”.

UK
NHS nurses considering job offers in Canada as Home Office ‘risks worsening workforce crisis’ with visa fee hike


Miriam Burrell
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Doctors and nurses on an NHS ward (PA Wire)

NHS nurses are considering job offers in Canada and the US as the dream of settling in Britain with their families becomes unaffordable following the Home Office visa fee hike.

The Government risks “worsening the NHS workforce crisis” by increasing fees from October 4, the British Medical Association has warned, labelling the move “self-defeating”.

Already “tens of thousands” staff short, the NHS faces a “disaster for patient care” and “yet more disruption” if migrant nurses leave, union Unison said.

Students, workers and families wanting to live in the UK will pay between 15 and 35 per cent more for their visa applications from next week, in a move the Home Office said will allow funding for public sector pay rises.

Anyone applying for indefinite leave to remain within the UK will have to pay £2,885, a rise of 20 per cent.

Nurses working for NHS England, who hoped to apply for this visa with their families, told the Standard an increase of around £3,000 in fees has forced them to consider jobs elsewhere.

“We’ve known England to be our home and we really, really want to stay here,” a Birmingham-based nurse told the Standard.

“Because of the cost my blood pressure is going up a little bit every single day, honestly, every single day I think about it.

“I can’t even sleep at night because I’m just thinking I have to go and borrow from the bank...so we will be able to afford it.”

It will cost the renal nurse, along with her husband, a lecturer, and three children, around £15,000 to settle permanently.

The Nigerian national said she has job offers in both Canada and the US, with the cost of her residency in Canada just £819 and her children £138 each.

“But I’ve lived in England for five years now. I’ve come to love living in this country. I love the job I do,” she said.

“I do appreciate the kind of health service that has been offered here.”

The mother-of-three told the Standard she knows at least five nursing colleagues who are also considering relocating, and more than 50 nurses who left the NHS in the past year due to expensive visa fees.

A Sussex-based nurse, who identified only as May, said she and her husband have worked for the NHS for two years but the visa fee increase has left them scouting for jobs in Australia instead.

“We are setting our sights to other countries with better wages and more welcoming rules for migrant workers. Many other colleagues of ours share the same sentiment and have started the process of taking examinations and applying for jobs overseas.

“We came to the country to contribute skills, knowledge and hard work in exchange for a decent life; but instead, we feel that we are extorted.”

A recent medical graduate and GP trainee, Hashim Barkouk, told the Standard: “Many healthcare professionals, myself included, are considering moving towards locum positions, which offer higher pay but pose a risk to the stability and continuity of our healthcare system”.

Mr Barkouk added: “I am surprised that the Government had little consideration for these critical issues and their potential consequences on the healthcare system.”

Dr Kitty Mohan, British Medical Association International committee chairperson, said: “The Government’s increasingly hostile immigration policies, including these visa fee increases, risk doctors from overseas being deterred from working in the UK, which will inevitably impact patient care.

“Trying to push the cost of failure to manage public services onto people coming to work in our health system is self-defeating and short sighted. The Government must abandon the planned visa fee increases otherwise it will risk worsening the NHS workforce crisis.”

Unison, a union that represents nurses, said raising the cost of visas “is only going to encourage yet more overseas employees to quit the NHS”.

Head of health Sara Gorton said: “This spells disaster for patient care and means yet more disruption for under-pressure NHS trusts. Already tens of thousands of staff short, the health service needs all the help it can get.”

An ophthalmic technician at King’s Hospital London has been saving for three years to bring his wife and two children to the UK from Nigeria.

The NHS worker, who only wanted to be identified as Bambo, said his visa costs will amount to around £10,000, an extra £3,000 after the fee hike.

“The money is too much for a low income earner and all of a sudden [the Home Office] increases it. I don’t see the possibility of how people are going to meet [the costs]. I don’t see it,” he said.

“I know people who have moved to New Zealand before now because of this.”

A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is right and fair to increase visa application fees so we can fund vital public services and allow wider funding to contribute to public sector pay."

The Home Office said it recognises the significant contribution of overseas NHS workers, especially during the pandemic, but must be fair to all who use the immigration system.

UK visa fees are broadly competitive when compared with the fees charged by comparative countries globally, the Home Office added.

The Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England declined to comment.

SCOTLAND

Nicola Sturgeon accused of hypocrisy for posing on a picket line

Daniel Sanderson
Thu, 28 September 2023 

Nicola Sturgeon was accused of chronically underfunding local government - PA

Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of hypocrisy for posing on a picket line in a show of “solidarity” with striking workers.

The former first minister was said to have wished staff whose walkout had closed a primary school “the best of luck” in their dispute, which union leaders have blamed on the Government she led only six months ago.

Unison staff completed a three-day strike on Thursday, which has shut classrooms across Scotland, in a row over pay.

They had formed a picket line outside of Royal Mile Primary School in Edinburgh, which is close to the Scottish Parliament where Ms Sturgeon remains an MSP.

She offered striking staff an apparent endorsement despite union leaders claiming that the administration she ran for more than eight years, until she officially resigned in March, had chronically underfunded local government.

Humza Yousaf, Ms Sturgeon’s successor, had urged Unison to suspend its industrial action and accept the “very good” pay offer which had been made to staff.

Stephen McCabe, the Labour leader of Inverclyde Council, one of 24 authorities where schools have been forced to close in September, said: “Hypocrisy knows no bounds.”

‘Financial mess’

“This is the person most responsible for the financial mess that councils are in today.”

Neil Findlay, a former Labour MSP, described Ms Sturgeon’s photo-op as “beyond satire”.

He added: “She presided over years of cuts to Scotland’s councils and claimed every budget was fair to local government and now has the affront to stand on a picket line.”

Unite and the GMB agreed to suspend strike plans while members consulted over a new pay offer.

However, Unison decided to go ahead with the action, with the walkouts taking place among school support staff, such as janitors and catering workers, rather than teachers.

Cosla, the local government body, said it had put a pay deal worth over £445 million on the table which would have seen the lowest paid workers receive an annual pay increase of more than £2,000.

Mr Yousaf has urged Unison to put the offer to its members although the union has accused him of failing to do enough to find a solution.

‘Show of solidarity’

In Ms Sturgeon’s final months as first minister, schools across Scotland were closed by the first national teacher strikes in Scotland since Margaret Thatcher was in power.

They were called off in March after teachers secured a 15 per cent pay rise.

Sharron Macaulay, one of the striking workers, took the photo of Ms Sturgeon on the picket line. The union posted it to social media and claimed it was a show of “solidarity” from the ex-SNP leader.

“It was great to see Nicola this morning, she was very friendly,” Ms Macaulay, a pupil support worker, said. “I hope she didn’t feel ambushed, as we shouted her over from the other side of the street.

“But she didn’t have to come over or have her photo taken with us, we are delighted she did, and she wished us all the best of luck.

“I just hope she still has some influence in the Government to get Humza around the table to help settle this dispute.”

Lilian Macer, Unison’s Scottish secretary, said: “At least when Nicola was first minister, she got around the table with Unison to negotiate a settlement. Where is Humza?”

A spokesman for Ms Sturgeon was approached for comment.

AOC Goes Off On Republicans During Impeachment Inquiry Hearing Into President Biden

Forbes Breaking News

 Sep 28, 2023

At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Thursday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) spoke about the impeachment inquiry into President Biden and called out Republicans for holding a hearing without first-hand witnesses. 

Ocasio-Cortez: Christie remarks about Jill Biden ‘disgusting, misogynistic’

Julia Mueller
Thu, September 28, 2023 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) blasted Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie for “disgusting, misogynistic” remarks about first lady Jill Biden during the second GOP debate on Wednesday night.

“It’s disgusting, misogynistic, and if Republicans want to continue pissing off an entire nation of women, please be my guest. We’ll see you at the ballot box,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote.

Christie during the debate had blasted President Biden for “sleeping with a member of the teachers unions,” arguing the president wouldn’t take on teachers unions because of his wife’s status.

Asked on “CNN This Morning” why he made the remark, the former New Jersey governor said the first lady is “a radical advocate for the worst in the teachers union” and said he brought it up because “no one else is willing to say it.”

He responded to the congresswoman’s criticism by stressing he’s “standing by the wording,” and knocked Ocasio-Cortez as a “hypocrite.”

“Let her accuse me of whatever she wants. When you look at the kind of hypocrite that she is, the kind of things that she does and lives her life as, as opposed to what comes out of her mouth. Please, I’d be happy to be accused of anything by AOC,” Christie said.

Former Vice President Mike Pence, also on the Simi Valley debate stage on Wednesday night, referenced Christie’s comment about the president’s wife later in the event.

“My wife isn’t a member of the teachers union, but I’ve got to admit, I’ve been sleeping with a teacher for 38 years. Full disclosure,” Pence said.

Zoom backgrounds have big impact on first impressions, study reveals

Anthony Cuthbertson
Wed, 27 September 2023

The UK government, under the leadership of Boris Johnson, used Zoom to hold cabinet video conferences in March 2020 (Boris Johnson)

A person’s choice of background on video call platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams can significantly impact other people’s first impressions of them, according to a new study.

Researchers at Durham University found that objects like house plants or book shelves can alter whether people perceive someone as trustworthy or competent.

Study participants were asked to judge still images of different subjects taking part in a videoconference, with statistical analysis revealing that people who used blurred, novelty or living space backgrounds were viewed as less trustworthy than those who had bookcases or plants in the background.

The research also revealed that people who smile on video calls are also generally seen as more trustworthy.

“This research shows how our Zoom backgrounds can affect the first impressions we make,” the researchers wrote.

“If you want to come across as trustworthy and competent there are some backgrounds you should use and some you should definitely avoid.”

Previous studies have demonstrated that first impressions can have significant impacts on people’s lives, capable of influencing everything from criminal sentencing decisions to romantic outcomes.

The popularity of videoconferencing platforms that arose during the Covid-19 pandemic mean first impressions are often made via video chat rather than face-to-face contact.

“In the professional environment, 75 per cent of business meetings are predicted to occur by videoconferencing by 2024. The findings of this study therefore have extensive implications for professional organisations and the general public,” the researchers wrote.

“The findings are highly relevant to recruitment processes because competence is a strong predictor of hire ability... Beyond the boardroom, the implications of the study are pervasive for the criminal justice system as defendants are increasingly appearing by videoconferencing.”

The research was detailed in a paper, titled ‘Virtual first impressions: Zoom backgrounds affect judgements of trust and competence’, published on Wednesday in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.

UK

HMRC investigating tax affairs of one of Tory party’s largest donors


Anna Isaac
Wed, 27 September 2023

Photograph: David M Benett/Getty Images

One of the Conservative party’s biggest and most influential donors, Anthony Bamford, is under investigation over his tax affairs, the Guardian can disclose.

The broad-ranging inquiry by HMRC calls into question whether the Tories should accept funds from the peer in the run-up to the general election.

It may also cast a shadow over the more than £10m he and his family have given to the party over the past 20 years.

The Guardian understands that the HMRC inquiry has been ongoing for three years and covers a period spanning several years.

Lord Bamford, who runs one of the UK’s best-known manufacturers, JCB, has been among the most significant donors to the Conservative party in recent decades.

He also bankrolled the former prime minister Boris Johnson and the Vote Leave campaign to quit the EU.

The Guardian’s revelation that HMRC is investigating the peer over his personal tax affairs risks embarrassment for the Tory party and the House of Lords.

Peers are obliged to inform the second chamber’s authorities of anything that has the potential to bring parliament into disrepute and sources said Bamford had not done so.

Bamford’s brother, Mark Bamford, who is a director of the Conservative Party Foundation and a major Tory donor in his own right, is also under investigation, the Guardian understands.

The Guardian approached Lord Bamford and his brother Mark. Neither had provided comment at the time of publication.

HMRC said it could neither confirm nor deny the investigation, and could not comment on identifiable taxpayers, citing confidentiality obligations.

The Bamford family have made about £10m in gifts and donations to the party in the past 20 years. Lord Bamford also personally paid for Johnson’s 2021 wedding party and offered the use of his own London townhouse and a cottage to Johnson’s family at below market rent last year.

JC Bamford Excavators, the yellow digger company founded by his father, Joseph Cyril Bamford, was the fourth most important source of political party donations for any party in the 2019 election and the Tories’ top donor that year, according to a 2022 study by the University of Warwick. Anthony and Mark are directors of the company.

This placed the family in a “super-donor” category, academics found. Another of Lord Bamford’s companies, JCB Research, was also a “super donor” in 2010.

Some senior officials and ministers are aware of the HMRC inquiry and have sought information about its progress.

The race to build war chests for the general election campaign is under way, with Tory donors being tapped by Conservative campaign headquarters (CCHQ) in order to “keep Keir Starmer out of Number 10”. A general election is due before the end of January 2025.

Questions over his tax affairs led to Bamford withdrawing from the peerage appointment process in 2011.

He said in an interview with the Evening Standard in 2012: “I knew it was all utterly untrue but thought the best thing to do at that time was to withdraw. I am a UK taxpayer. I am not a non-dom. I pay a very large amount of tax every year personally because I earn a lot of money.

“I have no tax schemes. My tax return is a very simple one. I have no outstanding tax matters at all. Have I ever had disputes on PAYE in the last 20 years? Once or twice but not major disputes. But let me emphasise, there are no outstanding tax matters.”

Knighted in 1990, Bamford was elevated to the House of Lords in 2013 by the then prime minister, David Cameron.

The Conservative party has faced close scrutiny of the tax affairs of its donors and ministers in recent years. Nadhim Zahawi was investigated over his tax affairs while chancellor and the Guardian revealed that he was forced to pay a multimillion-pound penalty to HMRC.

The Tory donor and Indian rice tycoon Karan Chanana faced scrutiny by the Indian finance ministry over his tax affairs.

Sources who worked closely with the Tory party chair, Greg Hands, during his time in government do not believe he would accept or seek a donation from someone he knew to be under investigation by HMRC or any other government agency. Hands and the Conservative party have been approached for comment.

Members of the House of Lords must inform the parliamentary commissioner for standards if they are placed under investigation by a body that polices their business or activity.Interactive

For business leaders, this includes bodies such as HMRC, sources said. This is meant to happen at the start of an investigation or as soon as a peer is made aware of it.

The Guardian understands that Bamford was informed of the investigation more than a year ago. Bamford has not informed the House of Lords authorities that he is under investigation, sources told the Guardian.

He has publicly criticised UK tax policy in recent weeks. In July, he told the Sunday Times that a recent rise in corporation tax from 19% to 25% was a “mammoth increase” and indicative of there being “no appetite for a long-term business policy”.

Related: Who is Anthony Bamford, the billionaire ‘super-donor’?

Bamford’s JCB Excavators helped fund Liz Truss’s Conservative party leadership campaign even while he was under investigation over his tax affairs.

Boris and Carrie Johnson’s wedding party was hosted and paid for by Bamford at his Cotswolds estate. It was said to have a festival vibe, with the Bamfords footing the bill for South African party food and rum.

In 2019 Johnson drove a JCB digger through a wall of polystyrene bricks emblazoned with the words “Get Brexit done”.

Johnson, Truss and Zahawi have all received financial support from Bamford or the wider family. Zahawi has received donations from Bamford’s son Jo to help fund the activities of his constituency office in Stratford-upon-Avon, with the latest being a donation of £7,500 in February this year.

Mark Bamford gave nearly £1m to the Tory party in March 2022.

JCB was founded in 1945 and has 22 factories globally, employing more than 18,000 people, who make more than 300 different products, according to its website. It reported a turnover of £4.4bn in 2022 and made a profit before tax of £501.6m.

JCB Excavators is held by JCB Group Holdings based in Switzerland, which is ultimately controlled by family interests.

UK

Tories ‘don’t deserve to win the next election’, says Thatcher donor Lord Harris

Luke Barr
Tue, 26 September 2023 

Lord Harris has held sway in Tory circles since the 1980s, during which time he has donated to a string of Conservative prime ministers - Eddie Mulholland

The Conservative Party does not “deserve” to win the next election, long-time Tory donor Lord Harris of Peckham has said, just weeks after he donated £5,000 to Rachel Reeves.

The Carpetright founder and Conservative peer said he had lost faith in the ability of the party to govern following a series of policy disappointments.

He told the Telegraph: “The whole situation in politics at the moment is very damaging to the UK.

“Does a Party like the Conservatives, with what they have done in the last three years, deserve to get back [in power], I don’t think so.

“You can’t think of many good things that the Conservatives have done and stuck to. At the last election, they said they were going to open 40 new hospitals in the next five years. Where are they?”

The comments come after Lord Harris, a former close ally of Margaret Thatcher, gave £5,000 to the shadow chancellor in August.

The peer insisted he was not defecting to Labour and said the donation reflected the fact that Ms Reeves was a graduate of one of his Harris Academies.

However, Lord Harris’s stinging criticism of the Government and public donation to Labour are a significant blow to the Conservative Party and will serve as a wake-up call for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

Lord Harris urged the Tories to “adopt a clear vision and stick to it”.

A self-made entrepreneur, Lord Harris has held sway in Tory circles since the 1980s, during which time he has donated to a string of Conservative prime ministers, including Baroness Thatcher, Sir John Major and David Cameron.

He was knighted in 1985 by Baroness Thatcher and then made a Conservative life peer in 1996 by Sir John.

The 81-year-old has become the latest high-profile businessman to donate to Labour ahead of the next election.

Former supermarket chairman Baron David Sainsbury and former Autoglass chief Gary Lubner have both given multi-million pound donations following a charm offensive by Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves received a £5,000 donation from Lord Harris in August - Lorne Campbell

Lord Harris said he would not vote Labour at the next election but said the Government could not carry on with its current way of doing things, especially as it keeps “changing people every five minutes”.

He said: “If I were a Labour voter, which I am not, it wouldn’t be hard to beat the Conservatives after what’s happened in the last three years.

“The only thing is, will Labour do any better?”

Lord Harris is perhaps best known for his Harris Academy schools. The Harris Foundation, a not-for-profit charity, runs more than 50 primary and secondary schools across deprived London boroughs and educates tens of thousands of children.

Ms Reeves was one of his former pupils and he said it was this link that sparked his donation.

“She went to one of our schools in Beckenham. And she goes back without me knowing and talks to the children. She’s never asked me for any money but I decided to send her £5,000.

“I have not spoken to her about this at all. I have only ever met her once over a cup of tea about a year and a half ago. As shadow chancellor, I can listen to her and see where she’s coming from.

“I am 95pc Conservative but there are some good Labour people.”

Over the course of his career, he has donated cash to Labour MPs on “four or five” occasions, he said.

Prior to the donation to Ms Reeves, the most recent instance was around five years ago when he gave money to Mitcham and Morden MP Siobhain McDonagh. This too was a product of her work with Harris Academies.

His business career started at age 15 when he took over the family market stall and two shops in Peckham, which he subsequently turned into the country’s largest carpet chain.

As well as his expertise in education, Lord Harris also chaired the Guys and Lewisham NHS Trust in the 1990s.

He said the state of Britain’s health service was worrying: “You shouldn’t have to wait 18 months [for treatment] when for 40-50 years of your life you have paid in money and then you can’t use it.

“As the country is today, I want the best party to win the next general election, one that’s going to look after the British people.”

Lord Harris said no Prime Minister since Baroness Thatcher had rivalled her ability but said “the next best were Tony Blair and Major.”

Ms Reeves was contacted for comment.

Labour declined to comment.