Swraj Paul, Baron Paul

Swraj Paul, Baron Paul , PC (born February 18, 1931 in Jalandhar , Punjab ) is an Indian- born, British entrepreneur and politician (formerly Labor Party ).

life and career

According to his official biography, Paul was born in Jalandhar , Punjab in 1931 . His father ran a small foundry that made steel buckets and agricultural implements . Paul attended Forman Christian College in Lahore and later earned a master's degree in engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States . He worked for the Apeejay Education Society (AES) in India , which was run by his older brother Stya Paul . He took over the business of Apeejay Overseas . Stya Paul died in 2010.

In 1966 he came to the UK to receive medical treatment for his daughter who was suffering from leukemia . After the death of his daughter, which was followed by a lengthy phase of grief and depression , Paul withdrew almost completely from the public and put his own career on hold. He also decided to stay in the UK.

In 1968 he began, initially as a sole proprietorship, with the purchase and sale of steel products . Shortly thereafter, he acquired a small steel company, Natural Gas Tubes (NGT). In 1968 he founded the Caparo Group , which became one of the leading producers of welded steel tubes and helically welded tubes in the United Kingdom. He stepped down from the management of the Caparo Group in 1996 and his youngest son Angad became CEO .

On the Sunday Times Rich List of Great Britain, Paul ranks 88th; Nevertheless, he says he uses public transport in London . Since the 1960s he has lived on Portland Place , opposite the broadcasting center of the BBC in central London . He and his family own a dozen apartments in the block of flats, each worth nearly a million pounds . He also owns an estate, The Grange , in Beaconsfield , Buckinghamshire .

Membership in the House of Lords

Paul was named Life Peer as Baron Paul, of Marylebone in the City of Westminster on October 9, 1996 . He gave his inaugural address on November 28, 1996.

As his political interests he gives foreign policy , education and economic policy . He mentions Austria , the People's Republic of China , Dubai , Germany , India , Poland , Spain , Switzerland , Turkey and the USA as states of particular interest .

In December 2008 he was appointed Deputy Speaker . Shortly thereafter, he was forced to resign from this position on charges of financial irregularities in connection with the expense scandal.

Role in public

Paul was in 1998 Prokanzler ( Pro-Chancellor ) of the Thames Valley University and was president ( governor ) from 1992 to 1997. Since 1998 he Chancellor of the University of Wolverhampton and the University of Westminster , which by his Family Trust received £ 300,000.

He was a member of the Foreign Policy Center Advisory Council and the Mechanical Engineering Visiting Committee of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He was chairman of the Olympic Delivery Committee , a sub-group of the London Development Agency . He ran for the presidency of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).

He was the first person of Indian descent to hold the office of Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords; he was one of a total of 12 people in this office. On October 15, 2009 he became a member of the Privy Council .

Paul founded the Ambika Paul Foundation in memory of his daughter. Caparo's profits are invested in charitable projects.

Paul is Honorary Patron of the Zoological Society of London and has started major projects in Regent's Park , including the petting zoo .

He is close to Gordon Brown and his wife Sarah Brown . He donated £ 500,000 to the Labor Party and is a major supporter of Gordon Brown. Paul was the largest contributor to the Brown party leadership campaign. In 2007, in the event of an early election, he offered “to give as much as he could afford”.

Honors

Paul received various awards and honors. In 1983 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Indira Gandhi . The Indian Merchants' Chamber awarded him the Bharat Gaurav Award . In 2008 he received the Asian Woman Magazine Lifetime Achievement Award .

controversy

In the context of the UK Parliament's expense scandal , The Sunday Times reported in October 2009 that Paul was unable to declare the claim for £ 38,000 parliamentary allowance, despite admitting that he never stayed at the place , which he stated as his main residence, a one-room apartment. He was forced to resign as Deputy Speaker of the House of Lords while his reimbursements were being investigated. He faced a possible criminal complaint and considered leaving the House of Lords, but the police dropped the investigation.

On October 18, 2010, the Committee for Privileges and Conduct , a special parliamentary committee of the House of Lords to investigate the expenses scandal, recommended that he be suspended along with Pola Uddin, Baroness Uddin and Amir Bhatia, Baron Bhatia and the disputed expenses, in his case £ 41,982 to be repaid. Paul's suspension was for four months; he also left the Labor Party . Since then he sits as an Independent ( Independent ) in the House of Lords.

Paul is not subject to general income tax liability in Great Britain due to his asserted status as a non-domiciled status . Paul asserted the distinction between “resident” and “domicile” in English tax law.

When Michael Ashcroft, Baron Ashcroft , a wealthy Conservative Party member , was pressured to confirm his non-domiciled status in view of a possible change in tax legislation, he took the opportunity to point out that it also applied to Paul. On March 9, 2010, Paul announced that he would give up this status.

In 2003 Paul had pointed out that "greed, combined with the waning of personal responsibility," was the cause of trouble in the business world. In a 2004 interview with the Times of India , he called for high standards of accountability and transparency in Indian political and business life .

Publications

• Indira Gandhi , Robert Royce Ltd, 1984, ISBN 978-0947728182 (biography about Indira Gandhi)
• Beyond Boundaries: A Memoir , Viking Press, 1998, ISBN 978-0670879250 (autobiography)

Web links

• Swraj Paul im Hansard (English)
• Swraj Paul, Baron Paul at theyworkforyou
• Swraj Paul, Baron Paul at The Public Whip
• Interview with The Manufacturer from December 2006
• Interview with The Guardian on November 21, 2008

Individual evidence

1. ^ Lord Paul of Marylebone Official website of the Caparo Group , accessed March 11, 2011
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Engineering magnate puts his faith in British steeliness Guardian interview of November 21, 2008
3. ↑ Apeejay founder Stya Paul dead article in The times of India from June 7, 2010
4. ↑ ^{a b} Swraj Paul: Humane capital article in The Economic Times of December 13, 2007
5. ↑ ^{a b c} Millionaire peer Lord Swraj Paul nets top home expenses Times article from October 4, 2009
6. ↑ Engineering magnate puts his faith in British steeliness Guardian interview of November 21, 2008
7. ^ ^{A b} How Sarah Brown charmed the 'Labor Ashcroft' article in the Daily Mail, March 7, 2010
8. ↑ Swraj Paul, Baron Paul on thepeerage.com , accessed August 18, 2015.
9. ↑ Chancellor Official website of the University of Wolverhampton , accessed March 12, 2011
10. ↑ 2006 Parliamentary list of interests
11. ↑ APPENDIX 1: THE FINANCE BILL SUB-COMMITTEE Official website of the House of Lords , accessed March 12, 2011
12. ↑ Sarah Brown launches Ambika at P3 Ambika at P3 launched by Sarah Brown Article on the official website of the University of Westminster on June 24, 2008
13. ^ Charity Commission Official website of the Charity Commission , accessed March 12, 2011
14. ↑ The Foreign Policy Center ( Memento of the original from March 3, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 95 kB) Publication by The Foreign Policy Center , accessed on March 12, 2011 
15. ↑ UK deputy speaker is Indian-born article on BBC News of December 10, 2008
16. ↑ Lord Paul: Speaking his mind article in The Economic Times, December 18, 2008
17. ↑ PRIVY COUNSELLORS ( Memento of the original from January 19, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official Privy Council website , accessed March 12, 2011 
18. ^ The Ambika Paul Foundation, UK - in memory of Lord Paul's daughter Ambika website of the NRI Charities , accessed on March 12, 2011
19. ↑ Corporate Responsibility ( Memento of the original from September 28, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Carparo's website , accessed March 12, 2011 
20. ↑ Children's Zoo at ZSL London Zoo ( Memento of the original from April 20, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Article on the ZSL London Zoo website from December 15, 2005 
21. ↑ Lord Swaraj Paul's son weds at London Zoo Article in The Times of India, October 11, 2004
22. ↑ Sarah Brown launches Ambika at P3 Article on the University of Westminster website , June 24, 2008
23. ↑ MPs expenses: Lord Paul denies he broke rules on residence allowance Guardian article of October 11, 2009
24. ↑ Donor's pledge fuels early election rumors Telegraph article , February 11, 2010
25. ↑ Deputy Speaker Lord Paul steps down over expenses row Telegraph article of October 12, 2009
26. ^ Three more peers face charges Times article, Feb.7 , 2010
27. ↑ Lord Paul considers quitting Lords over tax exile rules Article of the Telegraph of October 12, 2009
28. ↑ ^{a b} Three peers to be suspended from Lords over expenses claims Article of the Guardian of October 18, 2010
29. ↑ The Conduct of Lord Paul Report on the House of Lords website , accessed March 12, 2011
30. ↑ Michael Ashcroft: Why Tories could not afford to fall out with their 'foul-weather friend' Guardian article , March 2, 2010
31. ↑ A Statement From Lord Ashcroft (PDF; 171 kB) Letter of March 1, 2000
32. ↑ Labor peer to end non-dom status article on BBC News of May 24, 2010
33. ↑ Greed, irresponsibility troubling business: Lord Paul Times of India article , March 15, 2003
34. ↑ Lord Paul for high degree of accountability  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Times of India article , January 3, 2004