Council supports LGBTQ+ rights, but invests where homosexuality is illegal

As rainbow flags flew celebrating LGBTQ+ equality at Oban Pride, supported by Argyll and Bute Council, reports emerged the council had invested a total of £155million since 2017 in the state bank of Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death.

 

LGBT+ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. The + is an inclusive symbol to mean 'and others' to include people of all identities. Pride is a celebration of people coming together in love and friendship, to show how far LGBTQ+ rights have come, and how in some places there is still work to be done. This year is its 50th birthday.

 

Argyll's latest Pride parade took place on November 12, when dozens danced down Oban's esplanade in dreich winter weather, waving banners showing Pride's multi-coloured rainbow symbol, with one carrying Argyll and Bute Council's logo. Councillors on the Oban, Lorn and the Isles Area Committee awarded this year's Oban Pride £3,800 from Oban Common Good Fund.

 

According to a Guardian investigation, since 2017, 20 local councils in the UK have been depositing more than £1bn of taxpayers’ money into accounts at Qatar National Bank (QNB), the state lender in a country where football fans who display rainbow flags at this month's World Cup may have them confiscated 'for their own protection'.

 

By far the largest investor on the Guardian's list of local authorities, obtained by freedom of information requests, was Argyll and Bute Council, which had deposited almost £155 million in QNB, more than £30million more than the second-placed council.

 

The investments, the report adds, pose a moral dilemma for western institutions dealing with the tiny, gas-rich Gulf emirate – whether to prize financial returns over principles.

 

There is mounting criticism of the human rights record in Qatar, where homosexuality is illegal, women are second-class citizens and migrant workers have died in their thousands.

 

Argyll and Bute Council confirmed to us it had invested £155m in QNB since 2017. A spokesperson added: 'Supporting equality and diversity is important to us. We make secure investments to ensure we raise vital funds for services that support all members of our communities. Many are short term; we are planning to review the £5 million investment we currently have with Qatar National Bank by the end of the year.'

 

The QNB is paying up to 1.94 per cent interest on the council's current £5m deposit - a useful return as it struggles with funding cuts.

 

Earlier this month, the council appealed to communities to help save council services, by engaging with their parliamentarians about the importance of funding the services that matter to them.

 

Councillor Gary Mulvaney, policy lead for Finance Services, said: 'We’ve – unfortunately – been talking for years about budget gaps and difficult decisions to make. We’ve taken different steps to stretch resources as far as they’ll go.

 

'But the tens of millions of pounds Argyll and Bute’s lost already for its council services, the millions more forecast over the next five years and escalating costs mean we now have to focus on what council services we can save.'

 

The council had £117.4m invested around the world on June 30 this year, according to its latest financial report, presented to the Policy and Resources Committee (PRC) in October.

 

£15 million of that investment fund was deposited in the QNB - the maximum limit for any one counterparty, we were told by a PRC member.

 

The £15m was split into three £5m instalments. Two matured on October 21 and November 10, leaving the last £5m in the QNB, which will mature on December 13. The interest rates were listed as 1.49 per cent, 1.67 per cent, and 1.94 per cent respectively.

 

The council invested a further £10m in the Al Rayan Bank, the UK subsidiary of the Qatar-based Islamic bank Masraf Al Rayan, the second largest bank in Qatar by market value, according to its website.

 

As well as the penal code, which makes sodomy punishable with imprisonment, Qatar runs Sharia courts, where the punishment for Muslim men engaging in same-sex activity could be the death penalty.

 

The Oban Times can reveal Argyll and Bute Council has invested in banks in other countries where homosexuality is a crime.

 

Out of that £117.4m fund, the council invested a further £15m in 'FADB', the First Abu Dhabi Bank, the largest bank in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). One £5m instalment matured in August and the remaining two, worth £10m in total, mature in January and May 2023.

 

Homosexuality is also illegal in the UAE where, under sharia law, it is punishable by the death penalty - though this 'has not yet been applied for cases of same-sex sexual acts', says the LGBTQ+ rights charity Stonewall. Courts in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi punish sodomy and cross-dressing with imprisonment.

 

The council also invested £12.5m in the National Bank of Kuwait. One £5m instalment matures on November 17 and the second, worth £12.5m, in April 2023.

 

In Kuwait, according to the Human Dignity Trust, the law 'criminalises consensual sex between men, with a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment', and 'LGBT people are regularly subjected to discrimination and violence'.

 

In total this year, Argyll and Bute Council invested £52.5m in banks ultimately owned in countries where homosexuality is illegal.

 

The council is facing a backlash from its own councillors and the region's MP and MSP.

 

Oban councillor Kieron Green, a member of the policy and resources committee, said: 'There is rightly a focus currently on the human rights record of Qatar, where treatment of LGBT persons and women does not fulfil what I consider to be freedoms all deserve.

 

'However these issues are also present in a number of nearby countries, including but unfortunately not limited to Abu Dhabi and Kuwait, where Argyll and Bute Council has also invested.

 

'Argyll and Bute Council uses a number of criteria when choosing investments. These are based on ensuring that return is maximised with risk minimised and so look at credit ratings as well as limiting investments in each institution.

 

'As Argyll and Bute Council has investments in institutions based in a number of countries which have had concerns raised around human rights, I do not consider it appropriate to single out investments in Qatar for comment.

 

'I welcome the highlighting of this issue, as I personally am committed to equality no matter what gender and sexuality a person has. Migrant workers also deserve fair treatment no matter which country is hosting them.

 

'I feel this subject raises an important question regarding whether ethical considerations should be incorporated into the policies for treasury management, alongside current financially based criteria.

 

'I therefore intend to raise this at committee in December when the next reporting of investments is made, as well as in February when the treasury management strategy will be reviewed.'

 

The council leader Robin Currie said: 'The council has a proven track record in supporting LGBT+ rights. I understand officers will be reviewing this particular investment and I welcome that decision.'

 

Leader of the opposition SNP group, Oban councillor Jim Lynch, said: 'I do not think Argyll and Bute Council should be investing in any country where human rights violations exist. I understand the need for fiscal prudence in relation to investment strategies, however, I also believe the people of Argyll and Bute expect their money to be handled sensibly and ethically and the council’s investment strategy should reflect this.

 

'Now is the time for a review of the council’s treasury management policy to meet these expectations. I will be raising this issue at the relevant committees when the treasury management strategy is reviewed.'

 

Constituents of Argyll's MP and MSP have also expressed their surprise and outrage.

 

Argyll and Bute MP Brendan O'Hara, the SNP spokesperson on International Human Rights and chairperson of the All-Party Group on Democracy and Human Rights in The Gulf, said: 'I, like everyone else in Argyll and Bute, was completely unaware Argyll and  Bute Council had invested such significant amounts of taxpayers' money in Qatar, a country with such a poor human rights record.

 

'Since the news emerged, several constituents have been in touch to express their outrage that Argyll and Bute Council have invested more money than any other local authority in the UK in the Qatar National Bank, totalling £155 million.

 

'I am acutely aware of the severe human rights issues that exist in Qatar. Whether it is the deaths of thousands of migrant workers, the ill treatment of women or the discrimination faced by LGBT people, the gulf state has a lot of questions to answer.

 

'It’s disappointing therefore to see Argyll and Bute Council continually making investments in a state with such a poor human rights record, and I have written to the Chief Executive of the council to ask for an explanation as to why this has happened.'

 

Argyll and Bute MSP Jenni Minto, who attended Saturday's Oban Pride march, told us: 'Like many of my constituents who have contacted me about this, I was taken aback at the news reports on these investments over the weekend. I am currently in discussions with Argyll and Bute Council to get a better understanding of the decision making process behind this.

 

'As the author Anna Lappé has said, 'every time you spend money, you’re casting a vote for the kind of world you want'. I agree and believe any code of practice on such investments should prioritise ethical considerations alongside security, liquidity and return.'