David Lammy’s office took £10k donation from Saudi-supporting PR chief! B
Register of Interests reveals Muddassar Ahmed also donated £10,000 to the office of Labour MP Shabana Mahmood before the election
David Lammy took £10,000 from a Saudi-supporting PR executive months before he became Foreign Secretary, The Telegraph can disclose.
Muddassar Ahmed donated the money to support his office through Silk Road Consultancy, a company with no employees of which Mr Ahmed is the sole director.
Silk Road Consultancy also donated £10,000 to Shabana Mahmood MP, the Lord High Chancellor, before the general election.
Mr Ahmed, 41, who is managing partner of the PR firm Unitas Communications, has previously praised Saudi Arabia and its policies in blogs and comment articles.
Writing in the Daily Express in 2016, he chastised Boris Johnson, who said at the time that the state of Saudi Arabia was “puppeteering” in the Middle East.
Mr Ahmed wrote: “What does he expect – a parliamentary democracy with a secular constitution ruling over the Muslim holy sites in Mecca and Medina?”
In July, he spoke on a panel at the London Stock Exchange about “Saudi Arabia and religious pilgrimage” which “centred on innovative ways to enhance a pilgrim’s journey” and to enrich the experience, according to a social media post.
He also publicly praised Lammy for seeking to “break free from the delusions of grandeur of yesteryear and embrace partnership opportunities instead of its traditional, hypocritical lectures”.
In a comment piece calling on Sir Keir Starmer to reset relations with the Middle East, he added: “With the visionary input of high-profile Muslim politicians, businessmen, academics and community leaders, the party can start to build bridges both within the UK and farther afield.”
The website for Unitas Communications lists clients including the Islamic Development Bank, which is majority owned by the Saudi government.
Mr Ahmed claimed that the bank had been listed on the website in error after Unitas collaborated with it on “an event a few years ago”.
He told The Telegraph: “The Islamic Development Bank is not and has never been a Unitas client. The Saudi government is not and has also never been a Unitas client.
“Unitas is a global communications agency and, like many others agencies, works with diverse clientele across the world. Its revenue is derived largely from regions of the world outside of MENA [the Middle East and North Africa].
“Moreover, donations made by me to David Lammy and Shabana Mahmood were not made from Unitas company funds.
“I have indeed criticised British foreign policy in the Middle East as you have pointed out, and spoken at an event at the London Stock Exchange themed on Hajj.
“We collaborated with the Bank on an event a few years ago, and it is not currently or ever has been a client. It has been listed in error.”
Asked if he would donate more money to Labour he added: “Quite possibly.”
According to an online CV, Mr Ahmed was the founder and chairman of The Concordia Forum, an organisation that brought together senior leaders from government, corporate and other sectors to an annual retreat called “The Forum”.
In October 2023, The Concordia Network paid for the flights, accommodation, food and “activities” of Labour MP Afzal Khan to speak at and attend the annual retreat totalling £3,035.79.
Unitas Communications also donated flights and accommodation to Ms Mahmood to speak at the Concordia event, totalling £2,380.
The Register of Interests also shows that Naz Shah MP, who previously served as shadow minister for crime reduction, was paid £5,000 by the Concordia Network for two speeches in January and March 2023.
Earlier in 2024, the Concordia Forum also hosted Sir Keir Starmer, along with several cabinet ministers and senior Labour politicians, for an Iftar event.
Listed among the 1,000 most influential Londoners, Mr Ahmed has met the Prime Minister and Mr Lammy.
‘The transformation is incredible’
He has also been pictured with other figures including Michel Temer, the former president of Brazil, and Hillary Clinton.
Asked about his relationship with Saudi Arabia, he said: “I think that what is happening in Saudi in terms of the transformation, the economic political religious, social is actually incredible.
“I mean, that’s something that I think is pretty interesting, the ramifications of the Muslim world are huge.”
Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Saudi foreign minister, met with Mr Lammy in London in August.
Mr Ahmed has previously accused the Tory party of being Islamaphobic with anti-Muslim attitudes and suggested that there are racial double standards in government global policy-making.
In an article for Arab News published in 2023 criticising Suella Braverman, then the home secretary, he wrote: “Ukrainian refugees rightly benefited from a relatively efficient system that welcomed them into safe and warm accommodation.
“But Sudanese refugees have very few options open to them if they want to seek safety in Europe. Sudan’s immediate neighbours are struggling with their own internal conflicts and instability, meaning that any Sudanese wishing to flee to Europe will be at the mercy of dangerous smuggling gangs, which will be more than happy to exploit their misery.
“Denying the possibility of safe routes to the UK is not just deeply callous to Sudanese but also deeply offensive to British citizens who do not think in racist terms – or who themselves might not be white.”
The Labour Party declined to comment.
