Crisis-torn Saudi Arabia has been lavishing hundreds of thousands of pounds on British MPs, the Mail can reveal.

The kingdom – under fire over the suspected state-sponsored murder of a journalist – has been pouring cash into a charm offensive.

In just two years it has tripled the amount of money spent on MPs to pay for luxury hotels, business-class flights and magnificent feasts.

Conservative MP Helen Whately visited Saudi Arabia last year. In just two years it has tripled the amount of money spent on MPs to pay for luxury hotels, business-class flights and magnificent feasts

Campaigners say 38 MPs who got freebies over the past five years are ‘accessories’ to a cynical bid to brush up the oil-rich Gulf nation’s tarnished image.

Saudi Arabia’s slick PR offensive comes as it battles international condemnation over the suspected murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Screaming Mr Khashoggi, 59, is said to have been recorded in his country’s consulate in Istanbul apparently being chopped up while alive – as the chief Saudi government hitman listened to music on earphones.

Conservative MP Leo Docherty pictured with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, in a smiling selfie last year. The kingdom – under fire over the suspected state-sponsored murder of a journalist – has been pouring cash into a charm offensive

Saudi Arabia is also under intense scrutiny for staging bombing raids across Yemen that have killed thousands of civilians.

In 2016, British parliamentarians accepted £35,062 of junkets, gifts and other benefits from the authoritarian regime. But this year the figure is more than three times higher at £106,418 – and it is only October. The total since 2015 has been put at £208,000.

The Mail’s investigation into MPs’ financial links with Saudi Arabia came as:

The backlash against the kingdom intensified with trade minister Liam Fox joining an international boycott of next week’s ‘Davos in the desert’ conference;

British military sales to Saudi Arabia soared by two thirds from 2016 to 2017, an increase of more than £450 million;

The final newspaper article Mr Khashoggi wrote before he went missing was published, and called for free expression in the Arab world;

An alleged member of the Saudi ‘hit squad’ was seen on CCTV strolling into the consulate hours before he went missing

Last night Andrew Smith, from Campaign Against the Arms Trade, said: ‘At the same time as the MPs were enjoying luxury flights and hotels, human rights defenders were being abused and Yemen was being bombed.

'MPs should be speaking out and taking action, not accepting gifts and hospitality.

‘The Saudi regime has one of the most appalling human rights records in the world, and MPs should not be supporting it.

Labour MP Mike Gapes also visited Saudi Arabia. This year's benefits for British MPs from the Saudi state are worth £106,418 – and it is only October. The total since 2015 has been put at £208,000

‘The Saudi authorities are not lavishing hospitality on MPs because they want to promote “dialogue”, it is because they want to buy influence and power in Westminster.’

Saudi Arabia lavishes more treats on British MPs than all the other Gulf states put together, the Mail’s analysis shows.

Under parliamentary rules, MPs have to declare the freebies on the register of members’ interests – the official record of financial benefits ‘which others might reasonably consider to influence his or her actions or words as a Member of Parliament’.

So far this year, eight Conservative and five Labour MPs have accepted lavish junkets to Saudi Arabia to the tune of £106,418.

They flew business class and were pampered in top-end hotels, with the Riyadh regime taking care of all the bills. Leo Docherty, Conservative MP for Aldershot, lavished fawning praise on Saudi Crown Prince Salman in the Commons last year while failing to mention he had received more than £16,000 in donations from the kingdom.

Security members of the Saudi Arabia consulate in Istanbul open police barriers as a Saudi diplomatic vehicle arrives, where Jamal Khashoggi was allegedly murdered by the regime

Last night he said he had been ‘unfamiliar with the correct procedure as a new MP’ when he failed to declare his interests, but had ‘swiftly rectified the omission to the satisfaction of the House’.

Mr Docherty said: ‘It’s important to note that these visits are not “treats” or “donations” but working visits that take time and effort to a serious purpose – i.e. better understanding a key ally for our country.’

Joining him on the January junket were two other Conservative MPs, Richard Bacon and Philip Hollobone.

The trip, hosted by the Saudi defence ministry, lasted four days and cost £8,257 each in ‘flights, accommodation, internal transport and food’.

Tory MP Andrew Mitchell also visited Saudi in the same week on a £6,629 trip.

How our British MPs accept benefits and EVEN trips from the Saudi regime North Dorset MP Simon Hoare, Con South Basildon MP Stephen Metcalfe, Con Wyre Forest MP Mark Garnier, Con Fylde MP Mark Menzies, Con In 2016, British parliamentarians accepted £35,062 of junkets, gifts and other benefits from the authoritarian regime. But this year the figure is more than three times higher at £106,418 – and it is only October. The total since 2015 has been put at £208,000. Under parliamentary rules, MPs have to declare the freebies on the register of members’ interests – the official record of financial benefits ‘which others might reasonably consider to influence his or her actions or words as a Member of Parliament’. Saudi Arabia lavishes more treats on British MPs than all the other Gulf states put together, the Mail’s analysis shows. Campaigners say 38 MPs who got freebies over the past five years are ‘accessories’ to a cynical bid to brush up the oil-rich Gulf nation’s tarnished image. Saudi Arabia’s slick PR offensive comes as it battles international condemnation over the suspected murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. These MPs include: Simon Hoare After a £3,187-a-head ‘fact finding’ junket to Riyadh in 2017, North Dorset Tory MP Simon Hoare, right, and Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, above, both defended Saudi Arabia without declaring their financial interest. In a Commons debate, Mr Hoare suggested ‘a quiet conversation’ would be better than ‘shouting’ at the regime. Mrs Whateley said: ‘The Government of Saudi Arabia are taking steps to improve their actions on human rights.’ Stephen Metcalfe Runnymede and Weybridge MP Phillip Hammond, Con The Conservative MP for South Basildon was among four MPs who each declared £7,802 for ‘flights, transport, food and accommodation’ to visit Saudi. He said: ‘I accepted on the basis it broadened my knowledge of Saudi Arabia.’ Mark Garnier The Tory MP for Wyre Forest went on the same four-day visit. Afterwards he wrote: ‘We should not force another society to adopt all our values.’ Mark Menzies Mr Menzies, Tory MP for Fylde, led a delegation to Riyadh in 2017. He wrote: ‘The close relationship the UK has...means that we have more diplomatic clout.’ Phillip Hammond The Chancellor accepted a £1,950 watch, despite a ban on ministers receiving gifts worth more than £140. He declared the ‘private gift’ from one of Saudi’s richest men after the unveiling of a statue of the Queen in his constituency. His spokesman said that civil servants had advised him the gift was not related to him being a minister. Advertisement

A month later, four other Conservative MPs were VIP guests of the country’s foreign ministry.

Mark Garnier, James Heappey, Stephen Metcalfe and Keith Simpson accepted £7,802 worth of freebies each – or £31,208 in total – to ‘gain a deeper understanding of the strategic links’ between the two countries.

Mr Metcalfe told the Mail he had wanted to ‘broaden my knowledge’ of the Gulf state.

Asked about the Yemen crisis, he said: ‘I’m not sure the Saudis are bombing civilians on purpose. They need to take more care in their targeting, and I’ve told them that.’

Mr Garnier said Saudi made a great holiday destination because there were no ‘drunken brawls outside noisy nightclubs’.

In April, it was Labour’s turn – with their £43,810 freebie the most expensive of the lot.

Five of Jeremy Corbyn’s MPs took treats of business-class flights, hotel accommodation and hospitality totalling £8,762 each.

Yemenis displaced from the port city of Hodeidah receive humanitarian aid donated by the World Food Programme last month. The Saudi-backed government is fighting a rebel government. With Saudi bombing, the lack of food means Yemen is on the brink of famine

A Yemeni child suffering from malnutrition is weighed at a hospital in the northern district of Abs. Asked about the Yemen crisis, Mr Metcalfe said: ‘I’m not sure the Saudis are bombing civilians on purpose. They need to take more care in their targeting, and I’ve told them that’

The visit by Mike Gapes, John Spellar, Dr Paul Williams, John Woodcock and Kevan Jones, as guests of the country’s Shura Council – which advises the king – lasted four days and was to ‘discuss issues of mutual concern’.

Dr Williams, the MP for Stockton South, tweeted: ‘My previous notions have been blown out of the water. I’ve seen a modern, progressive Saudi Arabia that has totally changed my view of this country.’

Mr Gapes, the MP for Ilford South, told the Mail he had ‘long had an interest in the Middle East and the Arab world’.

Alex Burghart, the Conservative MP for Brentwood and Ongar in Essex, who went on a £7,800 visit to Saudi in September 2017 ‘to support and understand’ British-Saudi ties, told the Mail: ‘I wanted to find out more about the country and the region. I was lucky enough to be there on the day when the King announced that women would be allowed to drive.’

Two Tory MPs had to apologise after speaking up for Saudi in the Commons but failing to mention their £3,187-a-head junket to Riyadh in April 2017.

So far this year, eight Conservative and five Labour MPs have accepted lavish junkets to Saudi Arabia to the tune of £106,418

North Dorset Conservative MP Simon Hoare and Helen Whately, MP for Faversham and Mid Kent, both defended the regime during a July 2017 Commons debate about the imminent execution of 14 Saudi activists.

Mr Hoare, 49, suggested ‘a quiet conversation’ would be better than ‘shouting’ at the Saudi regime, and Mrs Whateley, 42, stood up to say the House ‘should appreciate that the government of Saudi Arabia are taking steps to improve their actions on human rights’.

After both were rebuked by the Speaker, Mrs Whately said: ‘I perhaps should have drawn the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests’, and Mr Hoare said: ‘Ditto.’

Two months later, Mr Hoare accepted a £7,800 return visit to the kingdom ‘to support and understand’ the British-Saudi relationship. Yesterday Mrs Whately said her trip ‘was declared and registered in accordance with Parliamentary rules’.

Conservative Charlotte Leslie - who lost her seat at the last election - accepted a ‘food hamper worth £500’ from the Saudi regime, while Chancellor Philip Hammond got a £2,000 wristwatch as a gift.

Mr Hammond’s spokesman said civil servants had advised him the gift was not related to him being a minister, but an MP, and therefore he could keep it.

Last night a separate Channel 4 investigation found that Saudi representatives have also given government ministers expensive gifts – including gold-plated, diamond-encrusted bookends and a silver horse ornament.

And Conservative MP Rehman Chishti was paid £46,000 of Saudi money over 23 months to work as an adviser for a Riyadh-based organisation set up by the Saudi royal family.

Braintree MP James Cleverly, pictured left, also made the trip to Saudi Arabia. Mrs Whateley, 42, dressed in blue on the right, stood up to say the House ‘should appreciate that the government of Saudi Arabia are taking steps to improve their actions on human rights’

Many of the MPs contacted by the Mail said Saudi was a key ally of the UK. Some cited the fight against terrorism while others pointed to UK defence jobs that rely on arms sales.

Allan Hogarth, Amnesty International UK’s head of policy and government affairs, said: ‘Any MP tempted by a lavish trip to Saudi Arabia ought to bear in mind that jailed Saudi human rights defenders are currently languishing in jail, while the Saudi coalition’s lethal bombing of Yemen is making lives miserable for thousands of poor and malnourished Yemenis.

‘Saudi Arabia’s appalling human rights record is well-documented, and no parliamentarian should go to the country without being prepared to publicly raise human rights.’

George Graham, of Save the Children, said: ‘For three years Saudi Arabia has been killing children in Yemen, quite possibly with British-made weapons. The fighting has driven millions of families to the brink of famine and created the worst cholera epidemic in living memory. Our leaders must do what’s right and stop fuelling this conflict with military and political support for one side in this brutal war.’

Saudi Arabia dished out nearly three times as much money in gifts and expenses-paid junkets to MPs than its nearest Middle East rival UAE.