Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos hosted and paid for by family trust of billionaire
Nigel Farage’s trip to Davos this week was hosted and paid for by the $10bn family trust of an Iranian-born billionaire, the Guardian has learned,The leader of Reform UK has been touring Davos this week, giving speeches in which he pledged to tax banks and “fight the globalists”,But in a surprising entry, he is listed on the programme for the World Economic Forum as a member of parliament and a representative of HP Trust, which describes itself as the “family office of Sasan Ghandehari” with a portfolio value in excess of $10bn (£7,4bn),A representative for the trust said Farage had been invited to Davos by Ghandehari, a venture capitalist, as an honorary and unpaid adviser to his impact investment portfolio focused on philanthropic activities, particularly in the Middle East.
He confirmed that the costs associated with Farage’s registration for the World Economic Forum and his hotel accommodation in Davos were paid by Ghandehari.Ghandehari, now a British citizen, is the son of the late Iranian-Kazakh billionaire Hourieh Peramaa, who once owned one of London’s most expensive £50m properties.A London-based art collector, he is the representative of a firm suing Christie’s auction house over the provenance of a Picasso painting previously owned by someone convicted of a drugs offence.Reform UK said Farage did not work for HP Trust and any declarations about who had paid for the trip would be registered in due course.Farage’s Davos connection to HP Trust is not Reform’s only link to the Ghandehari family.
Earlier this year, it emerged that a small design firm called Interior Architecture Landscape had given £200,000 to Reform in two tranches, according to Electoral Commission data.The company has a low profile, but in planning documents from 2015 it was listed as the representative for a property linked to the Ghandehari family.Interior Architecture Landscape confirmed to the Guardian on Friday that the Ghandehari family are its clients.A spokesperson said its decision to donate £200,000 was made independently by the company’s management, and not the Ghandehari family.The spokesperson for Ghandehari also said the family was a client of Interior Architecture Landscape, but was not responsible for the donations.
The Interior Architecture Landscape spokesperson added: “We confirm that the company has, in aggregate, approximately £15m in active contracts, including maintenance, refurbishment, and fit-out works, in relation to several properties across the United Kingdom.“We further confirm that members of the Ghandehari family are clients of the company.We can also confirm that all members of the company’s management, its decision-makers and its clients are British citizens, and that the company conducts legitimate business activities within the United Kingdom.Accordingly, any political donations made by the company are fully compliant with applicable electoral law.“Separately, the company’s management made a commercial and values-based decision to donate to Reform UK, reflecting the company’s view that Reform UK is seeking to improve the sectors in which the company operates.
”The company’s person of significant control is listed on Companies House as a John Richard Simpson,
Coca-Cola sues Vue after cinema chain switches to Pepsi
Coca-Cola is taking legal action against Vue after the cinema chain switched to its arch-rival PepsiCo to supply soft drinks in Europe.Vue, which operates more than 90 cinemas across the UK and Ireland, put the contract up for tender last year.The largest privately owned cinema operator in Europe, with 222 sites in eight countries, selected PepsiCo as its exclusive supplier in March last year until at least 2030.The deal brought an end to a relationship between Vue and Coca-Cola that had lasted for almost 25 years.Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Great Britain (CCEP) took legal action against Vue Entertainment on Thursday to reclaim alleged unpaid debts outstanding when the contract was terminated
Asbestos found in children’s play sand sold in UK
Bottles of children’s play sand have been withdrawn from shelves by the craft retailer Hobbycraft after a parent discovered they were contaminated with asbestos.The parent, who did not wish to be named, raised the alarm after her children played with the sand at a party.She sent samples off to a testing lab, which found traces of asbestos fibres in the bottles of yellow, green and pink sand sold in Hobbycraft’s Giant Box of Craft arts kit.Asbestos can cause cancer in later life if inhaled, although the risk to children who played with the sand is thought to be low.The discovery came two months after asbestos traces found in similar play sand products in Australia prompted a government recall and the closure of schools and nurseries across the country and in New Zealand
‘At the table or on the menu’: a turbulent Davos week with Trump’s circus in town
“If we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.” The Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, was the darling of Davos this week as he rallied resistance to Donald Trump’s smash and grab politics and his voracious appetite for other countries’ wealth and land.“Call it what it is,” he told delegates. “A system of intensifying great power rivalry, where the most powerful pursue their interests using economic integration as coercion”. He urged “middle powers” to band together or be crushed, and was rewarded with a standing ovation
Strong UK pay growth could limit interest rate cuts, Bank policymaker warns
The Bank of England may not be able to lower interest rates as much as expected this year, due to strong UK pay growth and expected rate cuts in the US, one of its top policymakers has said.Megan Greene, a member of the Bank’s monetary policy committee (MPC), which sets interest rates in the UK, said she was concerned that wages appeared to be growing strongly again this year and this could stop inflation from easing.In a speech in London at the Resolution Foundation, a leading thinktank, Greene said a decline in wage growth “may have run its course”, pointing to recent Bank of England surveys that suggest employers are planning to hand out pay rises of 3.5% or more this year.The latest official figures showed wage growth, excluding bonuses, weakened slightly to 4
Davos: ECB’s Lagarde plays down fears of ‘rupture’ in world order, as IMF’s Georgieva warns of AI ‘tsunami’ hitting jobs market – as it happened
Good morning from Davos, where the final day of the World Economic Forum is underway.After a week dominated by issues such as the world order, geopolitical tensions, tariffs and artificial intelligence, the health of the global economy will be in focus today.ECB president Christine Lagarde, IMF head Kristalina Georgieva and WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will give their views on the Global Economic Outlook.It’s an outlook that has darkened this week, with warnings from the leaders of Germany and Canada about the rise of great powers, and anxiety over whether AI will create an unemployment crisis.Speaking here earlier this week, Lagarde warned that President Trump’s escalating threats have undermined trust
Poundland shuts 149 stores, cuts 2,200 jobs and focuses on £1 items
Poundland has shut 149 stores with the loss of 2,200 jobs under a rescue shake-up launched after challenging trading conditions and unpopular clothing ranges sent it into the red.The company, which was itself bought for £1 from Pepco Group by the US restructuring specialist Gordon Brothers in June last year, said it had refocused on £1 items, with 60% of its stock now at that price.It is also relaunching its Pep & Co clothing brand after a switch to ranges supplied by its former parent group hit sales. Adult clothing will be in stores by the end of this month, with children’s and baby wear arriving in February.Poundland said underlying profits had more than doubled to £17
Here’s how Europe can file for divorce from Donald Trump | Phillip Inman
UK expected to reduce amount of steel it allows in tariff-free
Google AI Overviews cite YouTube more than any medical site for health queries, study suggests
How the ‘confident authority’ of Google AI Overviews is putting public health at risk
Steve Smith hits his groove – but too late for Australia’s T20 World Cup squad
Donald Trump will not attend Super Bowl because it’s ‘too far away’