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By MATT HONEYCOMBE-FOSTER
Happy Thursday and welcome to London Influence. Look, you’re allowed one meaningful tweet a year, that’s your lot. Bitter complaints to the usual address: [email protected] | View in your browser
| SNEAK PEEK |
— The British Kebab Awards turn 10. How did they become an unlikely Westminster mainstay?
— The official COVID inquiry is already leaning on consultants.
— The International Rescue Committee makes the case for global action while ministers look inward.
| LOBBYING WESTMINSTER |
KEBAB TO THE FUTURE: It’s the Westminster bubble’s heaviest night out — but there’s much more to the British Kebab Awards than boozed-up MPs and journalists vying for a spot in London Playbook’s Spotted section, honest.
The things we do for you lot: As the bash gears up for its tenth year, founder Ibrahim Dogus tells Influence over quite a big lunch that the awards ceremony, somewhat implausibly now a major social fixture in the Westminster calendar, gives him the chance to bang the drum for his favorite causes. They include the plight of small businesses and the contribution of refugees and immigrants to the U.K.
But but but: He’s not above a bit of mischief-making when it comes to the seating plans.
How it started: Dogus owns a chain of restaurants in London and was already on the SW1 scene as a campaigner on the plight of the Kurdish people when the idea for the Kebab Awards struck. He views the event as a chance to shout about the people behind the food — often from communities that don’t get much of a look-in at Westminster. “The kebab industry is Kurdish, Turkish, Greek, Lebanese mainly,” he says. “It’s all our communities coming together around a nice meal — they’ve built up an industry creating tens of thousands of jobs.”
Starting small: The awards managed to get the early support of Nadhim Zahawi (pre-Cabinet stardom) who helped arrange a small-scale first ceremony in the Palace of Westminster. Dogus thought he’d be “lucky to get 50 people” turning up, yet 200 ended up popping along to see what was up, suggesting he was on to something. It’s now a who’s who of the bubble, stretching late into the night and attracting SpAds, Cabinet ministers and opposition frontbenchers.
Special sauce: Part of the awards’ success, he reckons, is the fact MPs are keen to show they’re on the side of local small businesses — as well as some plain old curiosity from hacks about the whole thing (money behind the bar can’t but help on that front, either). Dogus sees the awards as doing a bit of “gastro-diplomacy” — bringing together communities “who are at war back in their homeland” under one roof, and stressing their shared stake in Britain as businesspeople and workers.
How it’s going: This year’s invites are firing out now, and the awards founder is expecting a couple of hundred MPs to show up. He’s even hopeful Boris Johnson (who delivered a video message last year) might make an appearance — though he accepts the PM, er, might not want to be associated with yet another boozy bash at the moment.
Off the table: One word of warning to SW1 types — don’t expect a seat with your besties. Dogus argues it makes for a much better event if political opponents and rival hacks are forced to mingle. “If four Labour MPs are coming and they specifically write to me and say ‘can you please make sure we are on the same table’ I will make sure they are not,” he laughs. “They already talk to each other and they need to engage with other people.”
Business angle: As well as filling bellies and damaging livers, Dogus tells us he’ll be using this year’s ceremony to lobby an influential audience about the help he reckons the restaurant industry still needs to get back on its feet in the wake of the pandemic.
Such as? He’s pretty critical of the speed at which the latest round of grants to get restaurants through the Omicron wave was handed out, arguing the Treasury could have made things much simpler for those on the frontline. And he’s among those pushing the government to shelve a planned return to the 20 percent VAT rate for hospitality and tourism in the wake of another difficult winter. He warns Rishi Sunak that if business are allowed “to fail and they close forever you’re creating a bigger problem — thousands of people will be unemployed and at the same time you’re losing a huge amount in revenue.”
A lot on his plate: Despite being a Labour man (Dogus stood for the party at the last election, currently sits as a councillor, and founded its Labour4SME network), the Kebab Awards founder is keen to keep the night open to politicians of all stripes. But, he tells us, there are some clear red lines — and he’s particularly scathing about politicians who take aim at immigrants. “If a racist person is constantly targeting communities, we wouldn’t invite them,” he says. Dogus is pretty depressed about some of the rhetoric coming out of the Home Office on Channel migrant crossings lately. “The home secretary saying that you’re going to use tidal waves to send the boats back? This is not Britain,” he fumes.
Watch this space: Second course almost up and with Influence’s WhatsApp chirping away, Dogus makes clear it pretty clear he’d love another tilt at parliament. And he’s strikingly upbeat when it comes to Britain’s wider attitude to refugees. “My father claimed asylum in this country. Without being granted refugee status, maybe he would have been returned to Turkey. Maybe he would have been imprisoned. Maybe he would have been killed. It’s great that Britain opened its doors to communities like mine … I’m grateful, and I want to show that. I want to do more.”
| QUICK HITS |
HUAWEI HARRY ROW RUMBLES ON: Plenty for Westminster’s influence crowd in the latest No. 10 shake-up. The revelation that Boris Johnson’s new comms chief Guto Harri lobbied on behalf of controversial Chinese comms firm Huawei at the time of a crucial decision on its role in the U.K. 5G network certainly raised eyebrows. And it’s prompted fresh questions about the revolving door between government and agency-land.
State of play: No. 10 made clear Tuesday that Harri had “resigned all positions” at agency Hawthorn, which has Huawei on its books. “At that time he was working for a private company and providing advice which is entirely appropriate,” Johnson’s spokesperson said. Hawthorn’s full client list is here, and it publicly declares its work with the telecoms company.
But but but: Stop us if you’ve heard this one before — we’re facing another big lobbying story that’s only come to light through reporting by the Sun’s Harry Cole, and not proactive government transparency. Trawl through Westminster’s meetings data and Harri’s engagement doesn’t directly crop up at all, thanks to the rule that only lobbying of ministers and permanent secretaries is recorded. Cole’s story makes clear it was Johnson’s then-chief of staff Eddie Lister who took the call, and there’s nothing in the rules at the moment that said this needs to be out in the open — despite it being on a pretty critical national security point.
Why it matters: “When lobbyists enter government it raises obvious questions about their relationship with former colleagues and past clients,” Steve Goodrich of Transparency International told us. “Though bound by codes of conduct to prevent them from abusing any conflicts of interest that may arise, this may do little to calm fears without additional assurances. Were government to provide greater transparency over SpAds external engagements, it would provide greater accountability over their actions in public office.”
Line to take: Pressed on the Lister meeting Tuesday, Johnson’s spokesperson said: “Obviously this was a formal meeting. Officials were present and officials took representations both from Huawei and from other businesses and other entities on all sides of the argument on this decision.”
LIVING LEVIDO LOCA: Johnson’s also tapped up a couple of big agency names to sort out his current troubles, with Isaac Levido and Michael Brooks, who set up Fleetwood Strategy after their crucial role in the 2019 election campaign, offering tips. That work is for the Tories directly and not government itself, with a Fleetwood spokesperson confirming the shop is “contracted by the Conservative Party to provide opinion research, party political advice and long-term general election planning.”
WHERE THERE’S SEDWILL, THERE’S SED-WAY: Proving life after No. 10’s not all that bad, former Cabinet Secretary Mark Sedwill added another string to his bow. The former civil service chief was cleared to join the board of the D Group, a business consultancy that boasts a network “at the highest levels of commerce and governments.” Revolving door watchdog ACOBA said Sedwill “should not advise D Group or its clients on work with regard to any policy he had specific involvement or responsibility for as cabinet secretary and/or national security advisor.”
CONTRACTS WATCH: It’s not up and running yet, but the COVID-19 inquiry is already leaning on consultancies. Transparency documents show top law firm Fieldfisher netted up to £250,000 of work to help with the setting up of the pandemic probe. Meanwhile, Crest Advisory — which specializes in crime and justice consultancy — was paid £50,000 to provide “strategic communications advice and professional media services” to the fledgling inquiry, including on its terms of reference.
PATERSON SAGA LATEST: Cabinet Office boss Alex Chisholm was “disappointed” at the way the Department of Health awarded key COVID contracts at the center of the Owen Paterson lobbying row without competition, newly-published messages show. Civil Service World’s Tevye Markson has the story.
| CAMPAIGN CORNER |
GOING GLOBAL: Putting thorny global issues on the political map is tricky at the best of times — even more so when a government is reeling on the domestic front. NGO the International Rescue Committee — launching a major report in parliament later this month — accepts it’s got a battle on its hands, but tells us it’s determined to convince Westminster change is still possible.
Primer: The IRC’s 2022 Emergency Watchlist makes for grim reading. It warns the international system for guaranteeing peace and prosperity has failed — and calls for nothing less than a “total system upgrade” to stop things from getting worse. It estimates that some 274 million people around the world are now in need of humanitarian assistance — a 63 percent rise in just two years. It hones in on 20 countries in which this need for assistance is the most acute, topped this year by Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, Nigeria and South Sudan.
Bleak picture: Hunger is growing — and it’s increasingly being used “as a deliberate weapon of war” in countries hit by conflicts. There are record numbers of people being displaced in or from their countries of origin. Women, girls and minorities are bearing the brunt of it. Watchlist countries have been left far behind in COVID-19 vaccination campaigns. And many of the same countries stand to be hit hard by climate change.
And yet: The IRC’s report finds an international order left wanting. “Peacemaking is in retreat, geopolitical rivalry is on the rise, the global commons is mismanaged, and non-state armed groups hold increasing sway,” it warns.
Big asks: All of that might seem pretty insurmountable but, argues U.K. Advocacy Director Denisa Delić, there’s plenty the U.K. government can do if it has the will. “There’s this tendency, especially in the conflict and humanitarian world, where we highlight the challenges, we set out the recommendations. But actually, are we demonstrating enough that things are also getting better when the actions that we call for have been taken?… I think there is a duty for NGOs like IRC to show the progress that’s been made,” she says.
Target targeted: The report doesn’t spare the U.K. from some stinging criticism over its decision to renege on a promise to channel 0.7 percent of gross national income towards overseas development. Delić’s more hopeful on the funding side after Chancellor Rishi Sunak committed to reinstating the target in the coming years, but says that Britain needs to reclaim its “leadership position” and encourage “other governments to step up” in directing aid spending to fragile and conflict-affected states. “It’s not just about spending more, but spending where the need is greatest,” she says.
Diplo focus: Britain also still has serious diplomatic clout it can use to help the countries on the IRC’s watchlist, Delić says. As a member of the U.N. Security Council and the G7, she argues Britain can knock heads together and make the case for unimpeded humanitarian access in afflicted states, and, crucially, press for major reform of the Security Council veto.
Veto venting: The IRC argues the veto is increasingly being used to stymie action in the face of atrocities, and it’s calling on countries to back a French proposal that would rein in its use. “The U.K. is in a good position because it hasn’t been using its veto,” Delić says, and she tries to pitch big foreign policy upsides for the U.K. if it teams up with France here. “In the last few years we’ve seen tension between France and the U.K. — almost conflict talk,” Delić says. “We’re in great need of trust-building measures, and this could be a project where the U.K. could live up to some of its ambitions set out in the integrated review [of defense and security policy] — but also work towards that bigger foreign policy picture for post Brexit Britain: how it works with its European partners, how it rebuilds some elements of its relationship with France.”
Tall order: Of course, getting all this on the radar of a government battling big domestic issues will take some doing. Delić is clear-eyed about the fact global policy issues are rarely “top of voters’ minds.” But part of the role of an effective NGO, she says, is to make the government’s “day easier,” helping busy officials and ministers to get their heads around what’s actually happening in the world as campaigners press for change. While Delić accepts Westminster now risks turning “inwards,” she points out that the wider world has a habit of intruding. “As we’ve seen over the last couple of months, the world’s problems don’t wait for a convenient moment to erupt,” she says. “We’ve seen that with Afghanistan. We’re seeing that with Ukraine … We can’t allow our attention to flag.”
| ON THE MOVE |
Camilla de Coverly Veale is stepping up to become policy director at tech start-ups lobby COADEC. She was previously the organization’s head of regulation and has worked for Britten-Norman and Maitland.
Former Labour political adviser Emma McNicholas has been appointed politics manager at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change after more than a decade with the party.
Toby Chapman is heading back to comms consultancy DRD Partnership as a senior analyst after a stint as a Treasury policy adviser. Iona Cross and Samuel Piña — former assistants to MPs — also join the team.
Bunch of senior appointments at advisory firm Project Associates, which named former White House aide Mark Medish as vice chair, leading its U.S. operations. The shop also appointed Tom Bell, formerly of comms shop MSL UK, as head of its private and client work; Erhan Erçin, an ex-diplomat with EU and U.N. experience, as head of its Brussels office; and Ryan Loeffen-Gallagher, a former adviser to the UEA’s foreign ministry, as lead for its Middle East and Asia work. Samuel Mwale, formerly of the Kenyan government, joined as an associate.
Charlie Reith is joining Expedia Group as the firm stretches its legs with a new government affairs arm for the U.K. and Ireland. It comes after eight years at Portland for Reith, most recently as a director.
Trio of leadership appointments at agency Blakeney. Michael Pooley, former CEO of Australian and New Zealand comms house PPR, is joining the senior team alongside Lara Cornwall from global comms shop BCW and Kate Thurlwell, formerly chief talent officer at agency Exposure.
James Cowling joined Atlas Partners as a political consultant, making the leap from Hanover Comms.
Richard Fenner, formerly head of public affairs at TheCityUK, is joining Euroclear UK & International as its first government relations representative.
Charlie Wells joined agency DGA Interel as associate director after working for the Falkland Islands government.
Milton Catelin of advisory firm International Public Affairs has been named the new secretary general of industry group the International Gas Union.
Shiny app-y people: Whitehall digital shop PUBLIC has had a makeover.
Jobs, jobs, jobs: Tough gig: NHS England needs a head of comms for emergency and elective care … The Joseph Rowntree Foundation needs an associate director for insight and analysis … Connect Communications wants a leader for its built environment team … Bunch of jobs going at Big Brother Watch … The Conservative Environment Network‘s looking for a non-exec … Infrastructure Matters is searching for an account manager.
Events horizon: Midlands Connect hosts MPs and local authority chiefs for a dedicated electric vehicle conference, Tuesday, March 1 … Public relations body the PRCA holds its annual international summit, Wednesday, March 23.
Thanks a bunch: Influence would be a complete clown without Nottingham’s finest, Paul Dallison, on the edits, and the POLITICO production team to switch the newsletter down from size 72 Comic Sans.
