Name Amir Baron | Role Life peer | |
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Amirali Alibhai "Amir" Bhatia, Baron Bhatia, OBE (b. 18 March 1932) is a British businessman and politician.
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Background
An Ismaili Muslim born in East Africa, Bhatia was educated in schools in Tanzania and India. He is married to Nurnamu Amersi and has three daughters. He moved to the United Kingdom in 1972.
Career
Bhatia was Chairman and managing director of Forbes Campbell International Ltd between 1980 and 2001. He was the co-founder of the Ethnic Minority Foundation and its chair until 2009, and also helped establish the Council of Ethnic Minority Voluntary Sector Organisations (CEMVO). He is additionally a former trustee of various charitable organisations, including the National Lottery Charities Board and Oxfam, serving as Chairman of Oxfam Trading.
In 2006 he was the chair of the British Edutrust foundation, the organisation planning to sponsor Rhodesway School. He stepped down from the post in March 2009.
Honours
Bhatia was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1997 Birthday Honours. On 5 June 2001, he was created a life peer as Baron Bhatia, of Hampton in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, one of the first 'people's peers'. He sat in the House of Lords as a crossbencher.
In 2003 Lord Bhatia received the Beacon Fellowship Prize for his leadership role in countering social deprivation and exclusion in the UK and internationally.
Controversy
In October 2010 Lord Bhatia was suspended for 8 months from the House of Lords due to the United Kingdom Parliamentary expenses scandal. After this, Lord Batia sits in the House of Lords as a non-affiliated member.
In December 2013, BBC Newsnight reported that Lord Bhatia had been accused by the Ethnic Minority Foundation of misappropriating £600,000 from the charity. Lord Bhatia is suing the charity for unfair dismissal, and his lawyers say that these allegations are confusing the historical position with the present dispute.