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PRESS RELEASE : London building contractor banned as company director and ordered to repay Covid loan funds with interest [July 2025]
The press release issued by the Insolvency Service on 1 July 2025.

Director disqualification and compensation order for Bounce Back loan abuse.
- Building contractor Tahir Haq overstated his company Integral Maintenance Team Ltd’s turnover by almost £200,000 to obtain a £50,000 Bounce Back loan when it was only entitled to just over £3,000
- He then failed to provide evidence that all of the funds were used for the economic benefit of his business
- The High Court banned Haq as a company director for 11 years and ordered him to repay all the money he was not entitled to, plus interest and costs
A West London building contractor who overstated his company’s turnover by almost £200,000 to secure a maximum-value Covid Bounce Back loan has been banned as a director and ordered to repay the money he was not entitled to.

Tahir Haq obtained a £50,000 Bounce Back loan for building completion and freight transport company Integral Maintenance Team Ltd, in late 2020.

However, his company was only entitled to little more than £3,000 under the scheme.

The 46-year-old, of Norman Avenue, Southall, provided no evidence that some of the funds he received were used for the economic benefit of his business, including cash withdrawals and money which was paid to a housing scheme in Pakistan. Haq supplied no documents which demonstrated that the housing scheme was connected to his company.

Haq was disqualified as a company director for 11 years at a hearing of the High Court in London on Tuesday 10 June.

He was also ordered to pay compensation of £46,778, as well as interest on the loan totalling £4,078, and additional costs of £8,107.

His ban started on Tuesday 1 July.

Kevin Read, Chief Investigator at the Insolvency Service, said:

Tahir Haq overstated his company’s turnover by almost £200,000 to secure the maximum Bounce Back loan available.

Our investigation revealed he used some of this money for personal purposes, including payments to a housing scheme in Pakistan.

The 11-year disqualification and requirement to repay all the money he was never entitled to demonstrates our commitment to holding directors financially accountable when they misuse Covid support schemes.

Haq was the sole director of Integral Maintenance Team Ltd, which was set up in July 2018.

The company’s trading was described on Companies House as ‘other building completion and finishing’ and ‘freight transport by road’.

Haq secured the £50,000 Bounce Back loan for Integral Maintenance Team Ltd in December 2020, claiming the company’s turnover was £212,800.

However, receipts into the company bank account for 2019 were only £12,888, meaning he obtained £46,778 more than he should have.

Haq also failed to explain how at least £34,777 of the Bounce Back loan funds were used to benefit his company. The remaining funds were found to have been used for his business.

Liquidators were appointed for Integral Maintenance Team Ltd in November 2021.

The disqualification order prevents Haq from being involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

Further information
- Tahir Haq is of Norman Avenue, Southall, London. His date of birth is 10 July 1978
July 9, 2025
PRESS RELEASE : UK launches Foreign Influence Registration Scheme [July 2025]

The press release issued by the Home Office on 1 July 2025.

New measures to protect UK from covert foreign influence came into effect on 1 July, strengthening national security, part of the Plan for Change.

National security will be bolstered as the Foreign Influence Registration Scheme launches today, one of the foundations of the government’s Plan for Change.

This landmark measure introduces an unprecedented enhanced tier, protecting our economy and society from covert activities by Iran and Russia. It also introduces a new layer of accountability around political influencing activity shedding light on attempts by overseas powers to shape UK democratic processes.

As part of the toolkit in the National Security Act 2023, FIRS will provide an unprecedented insight into covert attempts by overseas powers to influence UK democratic processes, help protect our institutions from covert interference and enhance the UK’s ability to understand and respond to threats against its democratic integrity and national security.

FIRS is a two-tier scheme: the political tier requires registration of any arrangements to carry out political influence activities in the UK on behalf of a foreign power, including political communications or lobbying senior decision-makers, such as MPs and election candidates.

A more stringent enhanced tier applies to foreign powers considered to pose a risk to the UK’s safety or interests – the whole of the Russian and Iranian states have been placed under this tier, after being approved by Parliament. This was in response to the serious threats they pose to our interests, and reflects the need to ensure transparency over covert influence activity directed by these states.

Security Minister, Dan Jarvis, said:

We welcome legitimate engagement with all countries, but we will not tolerate covert attempts to manipulate our political system or society.

The Foreign Influence Registration Scheme gives us the tools to confront growing threats to our national security, one of the foundations of our Plan for Change, without compromising the openness that defines our democracy.

Designating Russia and Iran under the enhanced tier is a vital step in protecting the safety and interests of the UK. This is about creating accountability and visibility so that covert influence operations have nowhere to hide, and ensuring we have the tools to detect and disrupt them.

These specifications will require the registration of any activities carried out in the UK at the direction of any part of the Russian or Iranian states. This explicitly includes their intelligence services – such as the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), the Federal Security Service and the GRU – as well as both countries’ armed forces.

Registering under FIRS does not mean that an arrangement is illegitimate, or the activities are undesirable. In addition, it does not mean that the registrant needs to cease, or seek approval for, their activities. However, those who seek to act covertly for foreign powers will now face a choice – register under the scheme or risk prosecution.

Registrations under the political tier must be submitted within 28 days of the arrangement being made. For the enhanced tier, registrations must be submitted within 10 days of the arrangement being made and ahead of any activity being undertaken. Failure to register when required is a criminal offence.

To ensure the scheme is proportionate, FIRS includes exemptions, including for recognised news publishers, legal professionals acting during legal proceedings or providing legal advice, diplomats and their families, and arrangements involving the UK government.

National Security is at the centre of the UK’s domestic and international policy and is the foundation of the government’s Plan for Change. FIRS is a key part of our national security toolkit, and delivers on our ambition to make our country a harder operating environment for hostile actors.

It puts the UK at the forefront of international efforts to deter and disrupt covert foreign influence, and its world-leading tiers will address wider threats to our safety – strengthening our ability to identify and respond to activity that threatens our democratic integrity.

July 9, 2025
NEWS STORY : The Suicide of Martin Griffiths and the Post Office Horizon Scandal

STORY

The first report has been issued in the Horizon Post Office scandal, highlighting numerous cases, including that of Martin Griffiths who committed suicide at the age of 59. It was alleged in the hearing of the report that the senior Post Office executive Angela van den Bogerd deliberately and wilfully acted in a manner which sought to hide the Post Office’s involvement in the suicide, a claim that she denied during the hearing.

The damning report into the Post Office notes of the case of Martin Griffiths:

“Mr Martin Griffiths and his wife bought Hope Farm Road post office in Ellesmere Port in 1995. The branch was situated in a shop from which Mrs Griffiths sold gift cards and
stationery with the help of her mother-in-law. Mr Griffiths was the postmaster, and he was responsible for the running of the post office. For years, Mr Griffiths had no problem with using Horizon or with balancing the branch accounts. However, problems with balancing began in, or about 2009 when more and more shortfalls became apparent. This may have coincided with the advent of Horizon Online. During the course of the following four years or thereabouts Mr Griffiths sought assistance from the Helpdesk without success. His family maintain that he was made to feel that he was the only person who was having balancing problems, a complaint made repeatedly by a large number of postmasters who contacted the Helpdesk. On at least two occasions Mr Griffiths was interviewed about the losses which were said to have occurred and on one occasion in 2011, he was suspended without pay. In July 2013, he was given notice of termination of his contract as a postmaster.

From about 2009 onwards Mr Griffiths’ mental health deteriorated. He became very depressed – so much so that he would not respond when his sister tried to convince him that there were others who were complaining of unexplained shortfalls and told him about JFSA and Sir Alan Bates. By 2012/2013 the shortfalls alleged to have occurred may have totalled as much as £102,000. On 2 May 2013 a robbery occurred at the Post Office which resulted in a net loss to the Post Office of £38,504.96, which was reduced to £15,845 after some of the money was recovered. Mr Griffiths was injured during the robbery; he was present in the branch when it occurred. The Post Office Investigator advised the Post Office that Mr Griffiths was partly to blame for the loss sustained by the Post Office and that he should be held responsible for part of the loss.

On 23 September 2013, approximately one month before Mr Griffiths’ notice of termination was due to expire, he deliberately walked in front of a moving bus. He was taken to hospital suffering from multiple injuries and attempts were made to save his life including providing him with life support. However, on 11 October 2013, Mr Griffiths died in hospital aged 59. By the date of his death Mr Griffiths had made very substantial repayments to the Post Office for alleged shortfalls. His parents contributed all their savings of about £62,000 and the balance owing was paid from the savings and income of Mr and Mrs Griffiths. Mr Griffiths’ death was and remains devastating for his wife, children and other close family.”

July 8, 2025
Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry – First Report

The first report of the Post Office Horizon IT Inquiry, published on 8 July 2025.

Text of Report Volume 1 (in .pdf format)

July 8, 2025
Nadhim Zahawi – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

The comments made by Nadhim Zahawi, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 8 July 2025.

Rest in eternal peace great man. Norman Tebbit was a giant of Conservative politics & Conservative ideals. A man who looked after his beloved wife beautifully after the horrific terror attack by the IRA. A man who nurtured and befriended young conservatives like me. He was great company on a weekend in the country. RIP.

July 8, 2025
Priti Patel – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

The comments made by Priti Patel, the former Home Secretary, on 8 July 2025.

Lord Tebbit was a giant of the Conservative Party and British politics. He was a man devoted to promoting freedom and liberty and gave a lifetime of service to our country in the RAF and in Parliament. His formidable record in Government promoting trade, industry and job creation helped lift our country’s economic fortunes and is a legacy to be proud of. Norman spent his life promoting our values and through adversary and challenge, he always displayed great courage.

It was a privilege to know Norman and receive his support and advice.

He will be greatly missed and my thoughts and prayers are with his family and loved ones. May he rest in peace and be reunited with his dear wife.

July 8, 2025
Boris Johnson – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

The comments made by Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister, on 8 July 2025.

Norman Tebbit was a hero of modern Conservatism. In the early 1980s he liberated the British workforce from the socialist tyranny of the closed shop. He tamed the union bosses, and in so doing he helped pave the way for this country’s revival in the 1980s and 1990s.

At a time when the Labour government is now disastrously reversing those crucial reforms we need to remember what he did and why. In his single most famous phrase he once said that in the 1930s his unemployed father had got on his bike and looked for work. That wasn’t a heartless thing to say – as the Labour Party claimed. It was because he believed in thrift and energy and self-reliance. It was because he rejected a culture of easy entitlement.

We mourn the passing of a great patriot, a great Conservative – and today more than ever we need to restore the values of Norman Tebbit to our politics.

July 8, 2025
Rishi Sunak – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

The comments made by Rishi Sunak, the former Prime Minister, on 8 July 2025.

Saddened to hear of the passing of Lord Tebbit.

He was a titan of Conservative politics whose resilience, conviction and service left a lasting mark on our party and our country. My thoughts are with his family and all those who knew him.

July 8, 2025
Kemi Badenoch – 2025 Comments Following the Death of Norman Tebbit

The comments made by Kemi Badenoch, the Leader of the Conservative Party, on 8 July 2025.

Our Conservative family mourns the loss of Lord Tebbit today and I send my sincerest condolences to his loved ones.

Norman Tebbit was an icon in British politics and his death will cause sadness across the political spectrum.

He was one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism and his unstinting service in the pursuit of improving our country should be held up as an inspiration to all Conservatives.

As a minister in Mrs Thatcher’s administration he was one of the main agents of the transformation of our country, notably in taming the trade unions.

But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing – a reminder that he was first and foremost a family man who always held true to his principles.

He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised.

Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

May he rest in peace.

July 8, 2025
OBITUARY : Norman Tebbit (1931-2025)

OBITUARY

Norman Beresford Tebbit, Baron Tebbit of Chingford, has died at the age of 94. A towering figure in British politics, his career was inextricably tied to the rise of Margaret Thatcher and the political and ideological battles of the 1980s.

Born on 29 March 1931 in Ponders End, Middlesex, Tebbit’s early life was far removed from the corridors of power. He was educated at the local grammar school and served in the Royal Air Force as a pilot during his national service. After leaving the RAF, he became a commercial pilot with BOAC, flying long-haul routes. He entered Parliament in 1970, winning the Epping seat for the Conservatives, before later representing Chingford from 1974 until his retirement from the Commons in 1992. His style was blunt, direct, and unapologetically combative, a tone that resonated with many during a period of deep national change and division that defined the Thatcher years.

Tebbit came to national prominence as one of Margaret Thatcher’s most loyal and effective lieutenants. Appointed Secretary of State for Employment in 1981, he wasted little time in introducing sweeping reforms aimed at curbing the power of the trade unions. The Employment Act of 1982 restricted closed-shop practices and gave individual workers greater protections against union coercion. It was one of the cornerstone measures of the Thatcher government’s agenda and marked a significant turning point in the changing balance of industrial power in Britain.

He later served as Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, where he continued his work dismantling what he viewed as outdated and obstructive elements of Britain’s post-war economic settlement. His appointment in 1985 as Chairman of the Conservative Party and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster placed him at the heart of government and firmly cemented his position as one of Thatcher’s most trusted strategists. Tebbit’s no-nonsense approach led to some of the most memorable lines in modern British political history. During the 1981 riots, he remarked that his father hadn’t rioted, he had simply “got on his bike and looked for work”. The phrase entered the political lexicon and, whether taken as a message of resilience or insensitivity, it captured the ideological mood of the time: hard-edged, unflinching and deeply divisive.

In October 1984, while attending the Conservative Party conference in Brighton, he and his wife Margaret were caught in the blast of an IRA bomb that tore through the Grand Hotel. Tebbit was rescued from the rubble with serious injuries, but his wife was left permanently paralysed. The bombing, aimed at decapitating the government, failed in its political aims but left deep personal scars. Tebbit’s response was stoic and determined, and his care for his wife became a defining feature of his later life.

He left frontline politics in 1987 to support Margaret, but his influence within the party remained strong. In 1992, he was elevated to the House of Lords as Baron Tebbit of Chingford, where he continued to make interventions characterised by the same clarity and conviction that had marked his Commons career. He was critical of the Major Government and as confusion over Thatcher’s European beliefs continued, he became an early and constant critic of the European Union, undermining the achievements of the Thatcher administration.

Tebbit was not without controversy. His comments on integration, particularly his so-called cricket test for immigrants’ allegiance to Britain, drew accusations of xenophobia and cultural insensitivity. He remained unapologetic, insisting that he was speaking uncomfortable truths others preferred to ignore. His writing, particularly in retirement, was as combative as his speeches had been. He contributed regularly to newspapers and journals, critiquing the evolution of the Conservative Party and lamenting what he saw as a loss of moral clarity and ideological backbone.

He is survived by his three children, and by the enduring legacy of a political life lived without compromise. Norman Tebbit was a man who inspired strong opinions and rarely sought the middle ground. For some, he was a warrior for common sense and national pride. For others, he was a symbol of a more unforgiving time.

July 8, 2025