Ed Davey took £25K from controversial donor to help look after disabled son

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey took £25,000 from a controversial party donor so his disabled son could receive round-the-clock care while he was on the General Election campaign trail, it has emerged.

Mr Davey's declarations on the first register of MPs' financial interests of this Parliament reveal that he received the monetary donation for his personal affairs in March this year.

His declaration in April stated: "This donation is for the sole purpose of providing additional personal care support to my young son, who has an undiagnosed neurological disorder resulting in severe physical and learning disabilities."

The party said it allowed him to campaign in earnest for the General Election.

Mr Davey was seen taking part in a number of comedy stunts during the election trial.

Although Mr Davey has declared supplementary incomes to his around £86,000 annual MP salary in previous years, he has not recorded any in the latest register.

A Lib Dem spokesperson told Express.co.uk: "Ed and Emily know they are in a privileged position, they see it as their role to speak for the millions of carers who do not get enough help.

"Without this generous support Ed simply could not spend his time campaigning and speaking to voters, he is the only leader who understands the terrible state of our care sector and has a plan to fix it.”

In February 2014 the Guardian reported that there was controversy surrounding around £500,000 donated to the Lib Dems from Sudhir Choudhrie.

It stated in 2012 Mr Choudhrie was named by India's Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as one of 23 "unscrupulous persons" who it had blacklisted as "undesirables" due to concerns they were "suspected to be resorting to corrupt or irregular practices in their dealings with official agencies".

In the case of Mr Choudhrie it had carried out two formal investigations of alleged bribery in his work brokering arms deals, which were closed with "not enough evidence."

However, the newspaper reported that he remained on the list of UCM which warned that politicians and officials should be: "careful and cautious in dealings with unscrupulous contact men whose names are on these lists, to avoid associating with them socially and accepting hospitality and gifts from them.

"Even official dealings with the UCM should be discouraged. Nefarious activities of these individuals should not be allowed and they should not be allowed sponsorship of Govt projects."

A spokesman for Mr Choudhrie confirmed at the time list was genuine, but added that there was no reason why he remained on it.

The report was published after Mr Choudhrie and his son Bhanu were arrested and questioned for several hours by the British Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in connection with an investigation into allegations of multimillion pound bribery and corruption at Rolls-Royce, which supplies engines for military and civilian jets.

Then in an October 2016 online BBC report it said that Mr Choudhrie's family's Stellar International Art Foundation owned more than 600 rare works of art by artists including Picasso, Renoir and Andy Warhol.

The report said he had been photographed receiving a business award from former Prime Minister Theresa May and his family had given more than £1.6m to the Liberal Democrats, while he was an adviser to then Lib Dem party leader Tim Farron.

At the time, Mr Choudhrie and his family ran a global business empire that included hotels, healthcare and aviation interests.

But, the report said an investigation by BBC Panorama and The Guardian newspaper suggested that he was also, at the time, one of the world's biggest arms dealers.

The investigation claimed leaked documents from the Choudhries' Swiss bank showed that the family's companies were paid almost €100million by Russian arms firms in 12 months alone.

And, it said Belinea Services Ltd, owned by the Choudhrie family, received € 39.2million between October 2007 and October 2008. Another company, Cottage Consultants Ltd, was paid €32.8million in the same period, while a third company - Carter Consultants Inc - was paid €23million.

In 2017 the SFO closed the criminal case into Rolls Royce after the firm agreed on a Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA) with the agency after paying a settlement of £497.25m plus interest and the SFO’s costs of £13m.

In 2019 it closed its probe into the individuals involved saying it was not in the public interest to continue.

Mr Choudhrie vehemently denied these claims at the time and continues to do so.

He has been contacted for comment about the latest donation to Mr Davey.