Asian businessmen Selva Pankaj and Rami Ranger among top Tory donors
The Labour Party raised nearly £5.3 million in donations, beating the Tories, who collected £4.6 million, for the first time since the Corbyn-era.
By Chandrashekar Bhat and Sarwar AlamJun 15, 2022
WEALTHY British Asians continued to pump money into the Conservative Party with businessman Dr Selva Pankaj making the largest total donation with £78,250 in the first quarter of 2022.
Dr Pankaj is the CEO of Regent Group, a London based educational group which has a number of institutes across the capital, including Regent College in central London.
The Sri Lanka-born former accountant donated a total of £354,000 to the Tory Party, according to the latest available data.
On his company’s success, Pankaj has previously said: “I take a day at a time, but we are very clear in what we are doing and where we are going, and as long as you have every day to succeed, eventually you will.”
Lord Rami Ranger, a long-time Tory supporter and co-chair of the Conservatives Friends of India, gave £30,500 in three separate donations from January to March. He has donated more than £1 million to the party over the years.
Speaking to Eastern Eye recently, Lord Ranger gave his backing to Boris Johnson but said if the embattled prime minister is ousted then the British public should look to a Asian MP to lead the nation.
“The opportunity should be given to an Asian candidate either Rishi (Sunak) or Sajid (Javid) , because it's time we give the new generation of immigrants a chance to run the country.
Dr Rami Ranger with former prime minister David Cameron
“They will work very hard, because they'll have to prove themselves. And they'll be good for the restoration of social cohesion as well,” he said.
Current Tory Party treasure Malik Karim donated £31,500. The investment banker gave £872,000 to the Conservatives between 2014 and 2021.
A recent Conservative fundraising event hosted by Karim, where chancellor Rishi Sunak was guest of honour, saw tables going for up to £10,000.
Other substantial donations to the Conservatives came from businessmen Majid Khan of Regatta Ltd, Muhammad Fazan Tahir of FT Estates Limited and Logan Naidu, Group CEO of Kernel Global, who each donated £25,000.
The Labour Party raised nearly £5.3 million in donations, beating the Tories, who collected £4.6 million, for the first time since the Corbyn-era.
Health secretary Sajid Javid with Dr Rami Ranger
The party’s upturn has been credited to the return of Lord Levy, who was former prime minister Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser.
Nicknamed Lord Cashpoint, Lord Levy helped raise more than £100 million for the party between 1994 and 2007.
“I am determined to do everything I can to make sure the party has sufficient funds to fight the next election at least on an equal footing with the Tories,” he has been quoted as saying. “It is very important that Labour goes into that election with sufficient funds to make sure that contest is not one sided,” Lord Levy told The Times.
Among other Asians, media entrepreneur Lord Waheed Alli made the single largest donation with £12,500.
Lord Alli, who is worth £200 million, has been a long-time Labour supporter, having been brought into the party by Blair.
He gave £100,000 to Sir Keir Starmer’s successful bid to become leader and last month hosted a fundraising event for Labour MPs Wes Streeting and Kim Leadbetter which raised £20,000. He is reported to have paid the £4,600 bill for a buffet and drinks.
“I love the Labour party,” he told the Evening Standard. “It’s given me all the opportunities that I’ve had. I’m a gay rights activist. All of those things that have changed in my life have come through the Labour party.
“If people want to fight in the Labour party about its values, I’m here for the fight. I’m standing my ground, I’m not going anywhere. That’s what I believe in, you’re not going to take it away from me. By all means, bring it on.”
Dinesh Dhamija, Liberal Democrats MEP and founder of online travel agency Ebookers - which he sold for £247 million in 2004, donated £5,000 to the Lib Dems and has given £1.2 million to the party in total.
INDIA’s Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) has approved the initiation of procurement for arms and equipment worth $12.31 billion (£9.05 billion), the defence ministry said on Thursday.
The council is headed by India's Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
The approvals are part of a push to strengthen the armed forces through the purchase of various systems and platforms. The ministry said the proposals include armoured recovery vehicles, electronic warfare systems for the three services, and surface-to-air missiles.
“These procurements will provide higher mobility, effective air defence, better supply chain management and augment the operational preparedness of the armed forces,” the ministry said in an official statement.
Naval systems and battlefield upgrades
The DAC has also cleared the procurement of mine countermeasure vessels (MCMVs), super rapid gun mounts (SRGMs), and submersible autonomous vessels for the Indian Navy. According to the ministry, “these procurements will enable mitigation of potential risks posed to the naval and merchant vessels.”
Among the other projects approved are the acquisition of an integrated common mobility card for the armed forces, high-power radar, air defence tactical control radar, advanced radio systems, and electronic warfare systems. The procurement of these items will help in improving situational awareness, enhancing battlefield transparency, and reducing the sensor-to-shooter loop.
The DAC also gave approval for the procurement of an integrated common inventory management system for the tri-services. The ministry said this would help in efficient management of ordnance stores and streamline inventory monitoring, strengthening the supply chain network.
All procurements from Indian vendors
The entire value of the approved proposals is to be procured from domestic sources. The ministry said, “All these procurements will be made from Indian vendors under Buy (Indian-Indigenously Designed Developed and Manufactured) and Buy (Indian) categories, giving a boost to the Indian defence industry.”
According to the statement, this move is in line with the government’s goal of achieving self-reliance in defence production and promoting the Indian industry under the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative.
The procurement will also involve the acquisition of guided extended range rockets and area denial munition type I for the Indian Army. The ministry said these will enhance the combat capabilities of the artillery forces.
The Defence Acquisition Council is the highest decision-making body in the Ministry of Defence for capital acquisition proposals.
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Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled
UK's second heatwave of 2025 ends with cooler temperatures setting in.
Tuesday recorded the year’s highest temperature at 34.7°C in London.
No return to heatwave conditions forecast for early July.
Showers expected in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with drier weather ahead.
UK heatwave fades as cooler weather returns
Following a stretch of record-breaking heat, the UK has now entered a cooler phase, with no heatwave conditions forecast for the first half of July. This change comes after Tuesday became the hottest day of the year so far, with 34.7°C recorded in London’s St James’s Park.
However, the high temperatures that marked the start of July have now given way to more comfortable conditions. In many parts of the country, temperatures have dropped by more than 10°C, bringing relief from the extreme heat.
Temperature outlook across the UK
On Wednesday, temperatures ranged between 16°C and 26°C from north to south, with cooler, fresher nights expected. Over the next week, Scotland and Northern Ireland will see daytime highs in the mid to high teens, while England and Wales can expect low to mid-20s.
Friday is likely to be the warmest day in the near forecast, with 27°C or 28°C predicted in the far south-east. Despite this brief warm spell, meteorologists have confirmed that there is no indication of another heatwave during the first two weeks of July.
Rainfall expected after dry spell
After one of the driest springs on record and a similarly dry start to summer, some rainfall is forecast over the next five days, particularly in north-western parts of the British Isles.
Areas already affected by drought, including Yorkshire and North-west England, are under close monitoring. The Environment Agency reports that two-thirds of England’s rivers currently have flow levels classified as below normal or lower for this time of year.
Regions such as eastern Scotland and parts of Wales are also experiencing low water levels. Showers are expected to arrive on Thursday and Friday, mainly across Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Unsettled weekend ahead
Forecasts indicate that the weekend will be unsettled, with unpredictable showers across the UK. However, early signs suggest that higher pressure may build again during the second week of July, reducing the chances of rain and bringing more stable conditions.
Recap of 2025’s second heatwave
This week’s hot spell marked the second official heatwave in the UK for 2025. It lasted six days in Yorkshire and the Humber, and five days in central and eastern England.
An official heatwave is recorded when a region meets specific temperature thresholds for three consecutive days, which range from 25°C to 28°C depending on location.
The recent high temperatures were driven by a large area of high pressure stalled over Europe, sometimes referred to as a “heat dome.” Scientists continue to warn that climate change is making UK heatwaves more frequent and more intense, with such events expected to become increasingly common in future years.
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Matt Hancock arrives ahead of his latest appearance before the Covid-19 Inquiry on July 02, 2025 in London, England.(Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)
BEREAVED families have condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock as "insulting" and "full of excuses" after he defended the controversial policy of moving untested hospital patients into care homes during the early days of the Covid pandemic.
Speaking at the Covid-19 inquiry on Wednesday (2), Hancock described the decision to discharge patients into care homes as "the least-worst decision" available at the time, despite the devastating death toll that followed.
Nicola Brook, a solicitor representing more than 7,000 families from Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said Hancock's claims were "an insult to the memory of each and every person who died."
A spokesperson for the bereaved families group said: "We've waited years for this moment, hoping for truth. What we got was finger-pointing and evasion. Our loved ones were left to die without PPE, without testing or protection. Other countries protected their care homes. Ours were abandoned."
When the pandemic struck in early 2020, hospital patients were rapidly moved into care homes to free up beds and prevent the NHS from becoming overwhelmed. However, there was no policy requiring patients to be tested for Covid before admission until mid-April, despite growing awareness that people without symptoms could spread the virus.
Hancock told the inquiry: "Nobody has yet provided me with an alternative that was available at the time that would have saved more lives. I still can't see a decision that would have been less bad. None of the options were good."
The policy was later ruled unlawful by the High Court in 2022, which found it was "irrational" not to advise that patients should isolate from existing residents for 14 days after admission. Hancock faced sharp criticism over his previous claim that a "protective ring" had been placed around care homes. When challenged about this statement at a Downing Street press conference in May 2020, he admitted it was "rhetoric."
"I would stress in that piece of rhetoric, what I said is that we had 'tried' – it was not possible to protect as much as I would have wanted," he said.
The inquiry heard anonymous evidence from care home workers who said Hancock had "blatantly lied about the situation" and that they felt like "the sacrifice, a cull of older people who could no longer contribute to the society."
Sharon Cook, who lost both her parents during the pandemic, described the "lot of confusion" about guidance at the time. Her mother tested positive for Covid and died three days later.
A week after that, her father died, with care home staff showing her a Do Not Attempt Resuscitation form they claimed had been agreed in consultation with her.
"If they'd been using the proper form, a more up-to-date form, I would have had to countersign," she said. "If I'd been let in, would my dad still be with me? I don't know."
The inquiry has heard that more than 43,000 deaths involving Covid occurred in care homes across the UK between March 2020 and July 2022. A civil servant earlier this week described the figure as a "generational slaughter within care homes."
Hancock, who resigned from government in 2021 after admitting to breaking social distancing rules by having an affair with a colleague, said the discharge policy was "formally a government decision" signed off by the prime minister but "driven" by then-NHS chief executive Simon Stevens.
Throughout his evidence, Hancock offered no apology for the policy's consequences. He told the inquiry: "We were trying to do everything that we possibly could, we were in bleak circumstances."
The care sector module of the inquiry is expected to run until the end of July, with bereaved families continuing to demand accountability from those who made key decisions during the pandemic's early stages.
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Starmer has said the NHS must 'reform or die' and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes. (Photo: Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer will on Thursday launch a 10-year strategy aimed at fixing the National Health Service (NHS), which he said was in crisis. The plan seeks to ease the pressure on overstretched hospitals and shift care closer to people’s homes.
The NHS, which is publicly funded and state-run, has faced difficulties recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. It continues to experience annual winter pressures, repeated waves of industrial action, and a long backlog for elective treatments.
Starmer has said the NHS must “reform or die” and promised changes that would control the rising costs of caring for an ageing population without increasing taxes.
In a statement, Starmer said his Labour Party had inherited a health system in crisis when it took office a year ago, but that the new plan would “fundamentally rewire and future-proof” the service.
New health centres and waiting list cuts
The strategy includes the creation of new health centres that will offer a wider range of services in a single location. According to the government, this move is intended to reduce pressure on hospitals, help bring down waiting lists and end “perpetual firefighting” in the system.
After a first year in office marked by unpopular spending cuts and some costly U-turns, healthcare is one of the areas where Starmer’s government says it has made progress.
The government has delivered 4 million extra appointments – double the target set for the first year – and brought waiting lists to a two-year low. Starmer said the NHS would not be fixed overnight but added, “we are already turning the tide on years of decline”.
Talks with pharma sector and life sciences strategy pending
However, the government remains in a deadlock with the pharmaceutical industry over drug pricing. It also faces potential further strikes from healthcare workers and has yet to release its promised plan to accelerate development in the UK’s life sciences sector.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Starmer and Reeves during a visit to Horiba Mira in Nuneaton, to mark the launch of the Government's Industrial Strategy on June 23, 2025 in Nuneaton. (Photo: Getty Images)
PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer on Wednesday said that Chancellor Rachel Reeves would remain in her role for “a very long time to come”, after she appeared visibly upset in parliament as questions were raised about her future.
Reeves was seen with tears rolling down her face during Prime Minister’s Questions, after Starmer did not confirm whether she would remain chancellor until the next general election, expected in 2029.
The moment came after the Labour government reversed its position on key welfare spending cuts, removing a multibillion-pound saving from the public finances and prompting speculation about Reeves’s position in the cabinet.
Following the incident, the pound dropped by more than one per cent against the dollar, and the London stock market also declined.
'The Chancellor is going nowhere'
A spokeswoman for Starmer told reporters later that Reeves had the Prime Minister’s “full backing”. A spokesman for Reeves said she had been upset due to a “personal matter”.
“The Chancellor is going nowhere. She has the Prime Minister’s full backing,” said Starmer’s press secretary.
When asked why Starmer had not voiced support for Reeves in the Commons, the spokeswoman said: “He has done so repeatedly.”
She added: “The Chancellor and the Prime Minister are focused entirely on delivering for working people.”
In a later interview with the BBC, Starmer said Reeves had done “an excellent job as chancellor” and would stay in the role “for a very long time to come”.
He said the tears had “nothing to do with politics” and described suggestions to the contrary as “absolutely wrong”.
Reeves to continue work from Downing Street
Asked about why Reeves was upset, her spokesman said: “It’s a personal matter, which, as you would expect, we are not going to get into.”
He added: “The Chancellor will be working out of Downing Street this afternoon.”
Starmer reversed the government’s welfare spending plan on Tuesday following a rebellion from Labour MPs, in what has been seen as a significant blow to his authority.
The decision to drop the cuts has left a gap of nearly £5 billion in Reeves’s fiscal plans, raising the prospect that she may have to increase taxes on “working people”—something she has said she would not do.
She has also ruled out changing her position that day-to-day spending must be funded by tax receipts rather than borrowing.