Foreign governments and influence groups have splurged vast amounts of money taking British MPs abroad since the last election, Declassified can reveal.

Israel, Qatar and Taiwan top the rankings, with charm offensives to promote the countries in Westminster.

The Middle Eastern monarchies of Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Jordan also make the top ten.

The findings are part of a joint investigation between Declassified and Consolidate, a political finance database. 

Since July 2024, donors have paid for MPs to go on some 658 overseas junkets, at a cost of £2.2m. The majority were funded by private companies, charities or wealthy individuals.

But we found 165 trips were either funded by the foreign government concerned, or by UK-based “Friends Of” groups dedicated to promoting the country in Westminster. 

In total, these 165 trips were valued at almost £695,000. 

Gulf state leads pack 

Qatar topped the list in terms of value, with trips worth a combined total of £181,000. It included scores of MPs being flown out to the country’s state-funded Doha Forum, where some had meetings with Qatari ministers.

The event describes itself as a “global platform for dialogue” and last year featured speakers like Bill Gates, Donald Trump Jr and the Qatari prime minister, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani.

Trips to Qatar have continued despite public criticism of MPs’ “poor judgement” over the issue, with campaigners highlighting the country’s poor human rights record.

According to the group Freedom House, Qatar’s hereditary emir “holds all executive and legislative authority, and ultimately controls the judiciary as well. Political parties are not permitted, and the only elections are for an advisory municipal council.” 

The Observer previously reported that some MPs were put up in luxury hotels with “vast swimming pools” and travelled business class on Qatar Airways. 

Speaking in the House of Commons in 2022, Labour MP Chris Bryant expressed regret for joining a delegation to Qatar, saying: “I wish I had not gone on that trip.”

Bryant, who is now a Cabinet minister, added: “Some countries forbid members of their legislative body from taking any form of hospitality of any kind, let alone several thousand pounds-worth of trips abroad, from a foreign state. We should consider that.”

But the all-expenses-paid trips have continued; in total, 28 MPs have declared attendance on state-funded trips to Qatar since July 2024. 

Six of the MPs went twice, including Labour’s Florence Eshalomi, who – until last week – was chairing an inquiry that looks at foreign interference in British politics and the rules governing foreign political donations. Eshalomi is now a government minister.

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Israel and Taiwan 

Meanwhile, MPs have taken at least 28 trips to Israel and 25 to Taiwan, which were all funded either by the countries’ governments, or by ‘Friends of’ groups.

Last year, Declassified revealed that two Labour MPs had breached parliamentary rules by failing to declare their trips to Israel in time. 

Peter Prinsley and Cat Eccles had been part of a “solidarity” visit, funded by Labour Friends of Israel, during which they posed for photos with the country’s president Isaac Herzog, whose genocidal comments have been cited in an International Court of Justice report. 

When Declassified questioned Prinsley at last year’s Labour Party Conference, he told us he had “no idea” if voters would care about his meeting with Herzog.

“I really don’t know that they’d be interested in it, to be quite honest,” he said.

And when asked why he went, the MP said: “I was asked to go. I just do as I’m told.”

The high number of trips to Taiwan is also significant because of its territorial dispute with China. Britain’s Foreign Office says: “The UK does not recognise Taiwan as a state and has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan”. 

The other countries on our lobbying index are: Ukraine, Switzerland, Cyprus, Finland, United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, San Marino, Kosovo, Belgium, Armenia and Thailand.

The ranking does not include British Overseas Territories and Dependencies, like Gibraltar and the Cayman Islands, as well as excluding trips to third countries. 

An advisor who works for one of the MPs who attended a state-funded trip abroad warned that “influence works in insidious ways”. 

Speaking to Declassified on condition of anonymity, he said: “Irrespective of whether it does influence their views or actions, the perception matters. 

“Paid trips overseas just reinforce the view among the general public that politicians are corrupt and do not act in their best interests.”

Transparency

In March, an independent review for the government suggested that foreign powers should stop funding junkets for MPs.

The report, by former top civil servant Philip Rycroft, said: “Many members of the public will wonder what obligations come with the accepting of paid-for travel and hospitality from foreign governments…  

“It might alleviate public concerns if trips were funded out of UK Parliamentary or government coffers.”

However, despite warnings from leading campaigners, the Rycroft review made little mention of ‘Friends of’ groups – aside from briefly airing concerns that they are “not sufficiently proofed against foreign funding”.

But in 2022, MPs were told that the “biggest anxiety” of Parliament’s security director was around foreign trips that are “not necessarily funded directly by the governments, but by their proxies, through third, fourth or fifth parties”.

And, last year, Spotlight on Corruption urged the government to investigate how foreign influence operations could potentially exploit ‘Friends of’ groups to influence UK political opinion.

Under the current rules, groups like Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) are allowed to keep the identity of their donors secret. The organisation has denied being funded by the Israeli government, but is under no legal obligation to disclose further details.

Labour Friends of Israel (LFI) has previously described itself as “a Westminster based lobby group working within the British Labour Party to promote the State of Israel”.

Conservative Friends of Israel (CFI) has also previously stated that it “lobbies Conservative MPs” to foster greater “sympathy for Israel”.

Speaking to Declassified, the Spotlight on Corruption’s director, Dr Susan Hawley, said: “It is crucial that MPs’ independence and objectivity is protected when they go on foreign trips and these do not become a route for foreign interference in our politics.” 

She added: “It is essential that the government comes forward with proposals to look at how such trips could be paid for out of parliamentary or government coffers, as the Rycroft Review suggested.”

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Other funders

Beyond the trips funded by foreign governments and ‘Friends of’ groups, other organisations and individuals have spent more than £1.4m flying MPs abroad since the last election. 

Some of these may be funded by lobbyists or proxies for foreign powers, but parliament’s minimal transparency requirements mean that it’s impossible to get a full picture of the issue.

Other donors include British charities, companies or individuals wishing to support an MP, or promote a particular cause.

When looking at all 658 trips – funded by the full range of donors – the United States is the most visited country, with at least 76 MPs making the trip.

The true number could be far higher, as MPs are not required to declare trips paid by organisations including the British American Parliamentary Group and the NATO parliamentary assembly.

The biggest single funder of US trips is the Coalition for Global Prosperity (CGP), a London-based campaign group chaired by Penny Mordaunt, the former Conservative defence secretary.

According to its website, CGP is supported by philanthropic organisations such as the Gates Foundation.

Meanwhile, UK Friends of Ukraine has sponsored at least 22 trips to the country. The group did not respond to questions about how it is funded, although it appears to have strong ties with a company called Bulldog Political Consulting Ltd which is run by a former Conservative adviser.

Foreign trips registered since 2024 General Election

Notes:

The rankings show trips funded or part-funded by foreign governments, parliaments, political parties, politicians or other agencies that are directly owned and controlled by a foreign power.

Destination countries exclude British Overseas Territories and Dependencies. 

The figures exclude cases where the donor has funded a trip to a third country (e.g. government X funds a trip to country Y). It also excludes donations from supranational political bodies, such as the European Parliament. 

The figures used here include the total value of any trips that were jointly funded by multiple sponsors, so long as one or more of the sponsors meet the criteria for inclusion.

All figures are based on a data analysis by Consolidate, with reference to declarations made in the Register of MPs’ Financial Interests.