15 hours ago
Kebab king's SME outfit ‘lobbies for big tobacco'
A t a Middle Eastern restaurant nestled under railway arches not far from Westminster on Monday, senior Labour figures gathered for an evening fundraiser.
As the drinks flowed, Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, the Labour peer and British ambassador to the United States, and Darren Jones, a Treasury minister, gave speeches.
The reception was supported by SME4Labour, a relatively obscure business group founded by Ibrahim Dogus, a Kurdish restaurateur dubbed the 'Kebab king' who has cultivated an extraordinary hotline granting businesses access to Labour's top table.
Dogus, 44, best known as the founder of the British Kebab Awards — dubbed the Oscars for the doner — also runs SME4Labour, which has convinced the Labour Party's great and good to turn up to its events, which business figures can pay thousands of pounds to attend.
