MPs, peers accused of breaking lobbying rules over northern Cyprus freebies

Standards committee’s Ian Blackford complains to authorities after investigation finds MPs and Lords failed to declare freebie trips to contested region when asking parliamentary questions

British MPs and peers on visit to northern Cyprus in January (source: Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus, X/Twitter.)

Five British politicians have been accused of breaching lobbying rules by asking parliamentary questions about the self-declared Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus after taking all expenses paid trips to the breakaway territory. 

The MPs’ and Lords’ codes of conduct state that when asking parliamentary questions “members must indicate any relevant interest on the question form”

But our investigation found that three MPs, including Democratic Unionist Sammy Wilson, and two members of the House of Lords failed to do this when asking parliamentary questions about trade, investment and direct flights to northern Cyprus on their return from freebie trips to the contested region in 2023 and 2024. 

The UK does not recognise northern Cyprus, which has only been recognised by Turkey since the island was divided five decades ago.  

“Parliamentarians are supposed to act with integrity and honesty. MPs and Lords not declaring their interests like this is the exact opposite of that,” said former Scottish National Party leader Ian Blackford, who is a member of the Committee on Standards on Public Life.

“There are so many red lights flashing here,” said Blackford, who has formally written to parliament’s standards commissioner calling for an investigation in the wake of this story.

“Let's not forget that these are parliamentarians going to a territory that lacks legitimacy, that is subject to UN resolutions,” he added.

Parliamentarians are also not allowed to “initiate parliamentary proceedings” that could have “any financial or material benefit” for a foreign government, non-governmental organisation or other agency “which has, within the previous 12 months, funded a visit they have undertaken or provided them with hospitality.”

A host of sponsors paid for the trips, including the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce and Turkish Airlines (which has also been in the news recently for giving free business seats to embattled New York mayor Eric Adams.)

The trips were organised by Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus, a campaign group that has been working with a London-based PR firm run by the son of a Conservative peer. Thomas Borwick’s College Green Group has previously appeared in this newsletter (more than once). 

Lobbying blitz

Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus aims “to show the need for the TRNC to be recognised as a sovereign, independent, democratic nation state.”

If Freedom and Fairness was hoping to put its cause on the political agenda, it appears to have succeeded judging by the barrage of parliamentary questions put down by MPs and Lords, particularly after paid trips to the region.

Parliamentary records show that, in the entire decade leading up to 2023, only 15 questions asked by MPs contained the phrase “northern Cyprus.” In contrast, MPs submitted 26 questions on the topic since the start of last year. 

Eight of those questions were posed by Democratic Unionist party MP Sammy Wilson, who asked about everything from Greek troop numbers in southern Cyprus to maritime shipping routes to northern Cyprus. Wilson also penned opinion pieces arguing that the U.K. should support independence for northern Cyprus.

Records show that Wilson did declare his trip to northern Cyprus in January on his register of interests, but failed to declare an interest in the subject before querying the government in parliament. 

Source: Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus, X/Twitter

Neither Wilson nor the DUP responded to requests for comment. 

More than a dozen parliamentarians, mostly Conservatives and Northern Irish unionists, went on ‘fact finding delegations’ organised by Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus. 

Lord Dennis Rogan, Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party in the House Of Lords, asked five questions after going on two separate trips to orthern Cyprus. Most recently, on January 16, he queried the government on “when they intend to review official travel advice for U.K. nationals visiting the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.”

Like all the parliamentarians mentioned in this piece, Lord Rogan listed the trips in his register of members’ interests but did not declare the freebies when asking parliamentary questions. The Ulster Unionist Party declined to comment on behalf of Rogan.

Earlier this year, Conservative Baroness Nosheena Mobarik asked the government “what progress they have made towards lifting sanctions on trade and travel to that region.”

Mobarik said she had registered her trip to northern Cyprus. However, she did not say why she failed to register her interest on the order paper. 

“As a parliamentarian I am entitled to hold a view and it is my duty to raise issues which I deem to be an injustice. I do not seek to impose anything but simply to air that viewpoint in a legitimate and reasonable manner,” Mobarik said in an email. 

“To me the isolation and embargoes experienced by the people of northern Cyprus is of concern,” she added.

In May, then Conservative MP Pauline Latham - who had been on a free trip to Northern Cyprus in February - asked if there had been discussions about the “potential merits” of allowing direct flights to the region.

Tory trade minister Nusrat Ghani responded by pointing out that only Turkey recognizes the breakaway state on the island of Cyprus. Britain’s policy is that only the government of the Republic of Cyprus has the authority to allow international flights to the north, Ghani explained. 

“As such, it is not possible to fly directly between the U.K. and the north of Cyprus.”

The exchange cut to the heart of the frozen conflict in Cyprus, which was divided in 1974 when Turkey’s military took control of the island’s north in response to a Greek-backed coup.

The Turkish Cypriot third of the island is now under the effective control of Turkey, which has troops stationed there. Greek Cypriots control the internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. United Nations peacekeepers have been stationed in Cyprus for decades.

Latham, who didn’t declare her interest before asking two questions about northern Cyprus in parliament, said she “didn’t realise” that she had to register an interest before doing so.

“That’s one of those things I slipped up on,” she said in a phone call, adding that the visit to northern Cyprus had helped her “understand the complexities” of the island. 

Aside from Wilson and Latham, two more Tory MPs asked questions about northern Cyprus after taking a trip there: Brendan Clarke-Smith and Paul Bristow, who both lost their seats in July. 

Records show that only Bristow registered his interest in the subject before posing his question to parliament, although Clarke-Smith said he did too but it wasn’t recorded.

Clarke-Smith said that he “would have registered the interest,” but it was “probably not recorded due to a clerical error” after he had filed his question in writing. “I declared everything,” he added. “Everything was on my register of interests.” 

Continuing campaign 

The Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus campaign has not been a solo effort. The group has close ties to London-based public relations firm College Green Group. 

College Green is registered as a lobbyist for Abajur Ltd, a public relations company run by Cetin Ramadan and Rikki Williams, the co-chairs of the Freedom and Fairness campaign group. Ramadan’s son also works for College Green. 

Freedom and Fairness shares an IP address with College Green, which means they have the same internet server. In all, more than a dozen sites connected to College Green and its founder, former Vote Leave data chief Thomas Borwick, are registered at the same IP address as Freedom and Fairness.

The privacy policy on Freedom and Fairness’ website gives College Green’s address and phone number. 

Freedom and Fairness for Northern Cyprus and College Green Group did not respond to requests for comment. 

The northern Cyprus campaign seems to be looking to build links with the new government too. 

Turkish Cypriot leader Ersin Tatar in Westminster in September. Source: Presidency of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 

On September 11, Turkish Cypriot president Ersin Tatar met with 20 British Parliamentarians in Westminster, including Britain's first MP of Turkish-Cypriot heritage, Labour’s Nesil Caliskan, who won Barking in July.

Calls to tighten rules of free gifts for MPs have grown in recent weeks as Keir Starmer and other Labour ministers have faced questions about accepting freebies from leading donors. 

MPs have previously been sanctioned for breaking parliamentary lobbying rules after going on paid trips. 

In 2018, the DUP’s Ian Paisley Junior was suspended from the Commons for 30 days after lobbying on behalf of Sri Lanka after taking an undeclared trip to the country worth up to £100,000.

A version of this story appeared on the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and the Cyprus Investigative Reporting Network.