Iranian Gives £1m Donation To labour Party
The Labour party has been given £1m by an Iranian-born industrialist who has been bankrolling two of the government's flagship school academies set up to promote Christian values.
The donation from multi-millionaire Mahmoud Khayami, a prominent Muslim who fled Iran after the fall of the Shah, is one of the largest received by Labour, eclipsed only by the £2m the party received from Lakshmi Mittal, the steel billionaire, and a similar amount given by Lord Sainsbury.
The gift comes amid the 'cash for honours' row, which has led to allegations that Labour sold titles to influential businessmen in exchange for sponsoring city academies. The Crown Prosecution Service is considering whether to bring charges.
It will also reignite the debate over the relationship between Labour and religious groups. Khayami, who has lived in Britain since 1979, is a major donor to the United Learning Trust (ULT), an Anglican foundation headed by Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
The trust, which, according to its mission statement, runs academies on 'the founding Christian principles of respect, service and compassion, discipline and hard work', is to open two city academies in Sheffield later this year, which will be funded by the Khayami Foundation charity.
Critics of academies accuse the government of allowing undue influence to wealthy religious groups, as sponsors are given a say in the running and curriculum of the academies they sponsor.
'How can a Labour government not feel beholden to someone donating so much?' asked Keith Porteous Wood, director of the National Secular Society, which campaigns against faith schools.
But supporters of the ULT, which already runs academies in Moss Side, Manchester, Lambeth, south London and Northampton, say its schools take pupils irrespective of their beliefs and that its ethos is on tolerance.
The ULT's schools boast a 95 per cent pass rate at GCSE compared with a national average of 59 per cent and its board comprises members of all faiths.
Last night Tony Blair said: 'I would like to thank Mahmoud Khayami for making such a generous donation to the Labour party and for supporting our values of economic prosperity coupled with social justice.
'Mahmoud Khayami is a committed promoter of inter-religious understanding among Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in the UK and abroad and is widely known for his widespread philanthropic work.'
Khayami's relationship with Labour was fostered by the party's newly appointed chair of its faith task force, lobbyist Anthony Bailey - an influential Roman Catholic and ULT board member whose connections stretch from the House of Saud to the Vatican.
'Over the last five years I've brought Mr Khayami into contact with the Labour party at different levels,' Bailey said. 'His decision to donate comes at an important time for the party. He wanted to pay tribute to Tony Blair but also to show his support for Labour in the future under Gordon Brown.'
Khayami, who has sponsored a number of high-profile debates with a view to increasing understanding of Islam in the West, has donated £530,000 to Labour now and pledged the rest of the £1m in the near future.
Although close to both Blair and Lord (Andrew) Adonis, the education minister who has championed academies, his donation, made shortly before Gordon Brown enters Number 10, is a sign he is keen to make a long-standing commitment to the party.
'He's incredibly generous,' Bailey said of Khayami. 'But his belief has always been to support things quietly, without trumpets sounding. He's deeply committed to improving educational standards in the UK.'
Khayami said: 'Over this last 10 years I have been proud to support the Labour party led by Tony Blair. I have witnessed at first hand the very real difference that this Labour government has made to communities across Britain with its focus on economic growth, raising people's aspiration and the delivery of social justice.'
Khayami was one of the leading champions of Iran's industrialisation during the Sixties and Seventies.
He masterminded the production of the popular Peykan cars, which were exported to neighbouring countries and Eastern Europe in the 1970s. He also founded the Bank of Iranian Industries, which aimed to bolster Iranian manufacturing, and the Kourosh Department Stores, the first large retail chain stores in Iran.
In 1979, following the overthrow of the Shah, he moved to London, managing the distribution of Mercedes-Benz cars.
In 2004, in recognition of his philanthropic work in the former Yugoslavia, Pope John Paul II made him a Knight of the Order of Pope Saint Sylvester - an almost unprecedented recognition for a non-Catholic.
The donation from multi-millionaire Mahmoud Khayami, a prominent Muslim who fled Iran after the fall of the Shah, is one of the largest received by Labour, eclipsed only by the £2m the party received from Lakshmi Mittal, the steel billionaire, and a similar amount given by Lord Sainsbury.
The gift comes amid the 'cash for honours' row, which has led to allegations that Labour sold titles to influential businessmen in exchange for sponsoring city academies. The Crown Prosecution Service is considering whether to bring charges.
It will also reignite the debate over the relationship between Labour and religious groups. Khayami, who has lived in Britain since 1979, is a major donor to the United Learning Trust (ULT), an Anglican foundation headed by Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury.
The trust, which, according to its mission statement, runs academies on 'the founding Christian principles of respect, service and compassion, discipline and hard work', is to open two city academies in Sheffield later this year, which will be funded by the Khayami Foundation charity.
Critics of academies accuse the government of allowing undue influence to wealthy religious groups, as sponsors are given a say in the running and curriculum of the academies they sponsor.
'How can a Labour government not feel beholden to someone donating so much?' asked Keith Porteous Wood, director of the National Secular Society, which campaigns against faith schools.
But supporters of the ULT, which already runs academies in Moss Side, Manchester, Lambeth, south London and Northampton, say its schools take pupils irrespective of their beliefs and that its ethos is on tolerance.
The ULT's schools boast a 95 per cent pass rate at GCSE compared with a national average of 59 per cent and its board comprises members of all faiths.
Last night Tony Blair said: 'I would like to thank Mahmoud Khayami for making such a generous donation to the Labour party and for supporting our values of economic prosperity coupled with social justice.
'Mahmoud Khayami is a committed promoter of inter-religious understanding among Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities in the UK and abroad and is widely known for his widespread philanthropic work.'
Khayami's relationship with Labour was fostered by the party's newly appointed chair of its faith task force, lobbyist Anthony Bailey - an influential Roman Catholic and ULT board member whose connections stretch from the House of Saud to the Vatican.
'Over the last five years I've brought Mr Khayami into contact with the Labour party at different levels,' Bailey said. 'His decision to donate comes at an important time for the party. He wanted to pay tribute to Tony Blair but also to show his support for Labour in the future under Gordon Brown.'
Khayami, who has sponsored a number of high-profile debates with a view to increasing understanding of Islam in the West, has donated £530,000 to Labour now and pledged the rest of the £1m in the near future.
Although close to both Blair and Lord (Andrew) Adonis, the education minister who has championed academies, his donation, made shortly before Gordon Brown enters Number 10, is a sign he is keen to make a long-standing commitment to the party.
'He's incredibly generous,' Bailey said of Khayami. 'But his belief has always been to support things quietly, without trumpets sounding. He's deeply committed to improving educational standards in the UK.'
Khayami said: 'Over this last 10 years I have been proud to support the Labour party led by Tony Blair. I have witnessed at first hand the very real difference that this Labour government has made to communities across Britain with its focus on economic growth, raising people's aspiration and the delivery of social justice.'
Khayami was one of the leading champions of Iran's industrialisation during the Sixties and Seventies.
He masterminded the production of the popular Peykan cars, which were exported to neighbouring countries and Eastern Europe in the 1970s. He also founded the Bank of Iranian Industries, which aimed to bolster Iranian manufacturing, and the Kourosh Department Stores, the first large retail chain stores in Iran.
In 1979, following the overthrow of the Shah, he moved to London, managing the distribution of Mercedes-Benz cars.
In 2004, in recognition of his philanthropic work in the former Yugoslavia, Pope John Paul II made him a Knight of the Order of Pope Saint Sylvester - an almost unprecedented recognition for a non-Catholic.
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