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Statement by Mr Mohamed Al-Fayed to
the Privileges Committee, 1 November 1995
1. The Committee of Privileges has asked me
to give evidence on the circumstances of my participation in
the alleged action of The Guardian newspaper in representing
that a letter, namely a fax, sent by it to the Ritz Hotel, Paris
was sent in the name of an Honourable Member of the House.
2. I am very anxious that the Committee should
understand something of the background that led to my participation,
the exact nature and extent of that participation and the precise
motives that prompted it. I earnestly hope that natural justice
and the undeniable wish of the Committee to be fair to witnesses
who appear before it will permit me to give my own explanation
in advance of any questions that your members may wish to ask.
3. I wish to begin by a very brief statement
of my own position towards the Government of the day and Her
Majesty's Ministers and Members of the House. Contrary to wild
suggestions that have been made about me, I have not sought to
orchestrate some kind of spiteful vendetta against this Government,
its Ministers or Conservative members of the House, nor against
Mr Jonathan Aitken, MP. However, events have made me determined
to fight against and, where necessary and desirable, to expose
wrong doing by those occupying positions of political power.
I would hope and believe that every member of this Committee will
share that determination.
4. The events, in my own experience, which forged
that determination cover a spectrum of some eight years and I
wish now to summarise them briefly to shed light on what happened
in November 1993 with reference to Mr Aitken's visit to the Ritz
in September 1993.
5. Members of the Committee will be aware of
the very lengthy campaign started by Mr R W Rowland and Lonrho
Plc against my brothers and me following our acquisition of the
House of Fraser Group and Harrods in 1985. That campaign only
terminated in 1993 when Mr Rowland agreed on behalf of Lonrho
Plc to abandon all legal proceedings against various companies
of which I and my brothers are ultimate shareholders.
6. Politically, Lonrho was extremely active
in its campaign. The then Chairman of Lonrho, Sir Edward du Cann,
a Conservative member of the House and, at the time, wielding
considerable political influence, lobbied very actively on its
behalf. A number of other members of Parliament played a prominent
part by the tabling of Parliamentary questions, early day motions
and allied activity in the Lonrho cause. This was the first time
that I fully realised how commercial activity can be sought
to be influenced by well organised political lobbying.
7. Consequently, to counter this, in the Autumn
of 1985, I was recommended to Mr Ian Greer. I was told that he
had many contacts in the House of Commons and his own lobbying
expertise would greatly assist. I retained him for this purpose
in October 1985. The leading members of the group assembled by
Mr Greer were Mr Tim Smith and Mr Neil Hamilton. Mr Greer expressly
told me that it was perfectly normal to pay MPs to ask questions
in the House and undertake similar activities. Over the course
of the next few years, both Mr Hamilton and Mr Smith asked a
number of questions in the House and were involved in early day
motions; Mr Hamilton also corresponded with various Government
departments relating to the House of Fraser and Lonrho.
8. Between 1987 and 1989, I made a number of
cash payments to Mr Hamilton as well as Harrods gift vouchers
when he visited me either at Harrods or my London home. My solicitor's
letter of 5 December 1994 to the Chairman of the Select Committee
on Members' Interests sets out the details. I attach a copy.[1]
In addition, Mr Hamilton's visit to the Ritz Hotel, Paris
for six nights in September 1987 is well known to the Members.
At their request, he and his wife stayed for six nights and their
total bill would have been £3,602.29 (uplifted in line with
RPI index, today's cost would be £5,115.25).
In the same years, I gave lesser cash sums to
Mr Tim Smith. He confirmed this in his resignation letter to the
Prime Minister in October 1994, stating that he had declared
the relevant payments on his Tax Returns.
Extract from Mr Al-Fayed's oral evidence
to the Privileges Committee, 1 November 1995
* * *
341. Can you tell us if you have had other experience,
without going into the territories which the Chairman has ruled
out of order, of Members of Parliament who have been either untruthful
of who have demanded payment for their services?
(Mr
Al-Fayed) I have already exposed two ministers, Tim Smith
and Neil Hamilton, and I think both of them resigned, and also
some other Members of Parliament who have also taken service.
342. Could you give us any names?
(Mr
Al-Fayed) Andrew Bowden took again for his services £5,000
and he asked for £50,000 a year to retain him to fight against
other Members of Parliament which Tiny Rowland was using, and
I think my Legal Director, Mr Royston Webb, witnessed that himself.
1 See Appendix 1. Back
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