Boris Johnson has travelled more than 4,000 miles to India - where he managed to squeeze in a visit a Tory donor’s factory on his first day.
The Prime Minister made space in his jam-packed schedule to tour a new JCB facility in Vadodara, Gujarat, owned by Conservative peer Lord Bamford.
JCB chairman Lord Bamford, his family and businesses have given some £14 million in cash and gifts to the Conservative Party since 2001.
Lord Bamford, who backed Mr Johnson’s Conservative leadership bid in 2019, was pictured with the Prime Minister on a visit to the factory.
Mr Johnson travelled by Indian Air Force Chinook helicopter to get to the site after arriving in India today for a two-day visit.
Speaking to reporters at the site, the PM hailed the factory as the "living, breathing incarnation of the umbilicus between the UK and India".
"This is a world-leading factory - 600,000 diggers a year coming from India, exported from India to 110 countries with British technology."
According to Electoral Commission records, the most recent donation came last August when JC Bamford Excavators Ltd pumped £4,000 into the Tory war chest.
In the run-up to last May’s local elections, the PM used JCB tycoon's £47million Gulfstream 650 private jet and helicopter to tour the country campaigning.
Last October, Mr Johnson posed for eco-friendly photos with the megabucks donor, standing for snaps in front of a hydrogen-powered JCB digger.
JCB tycoon Lord Bamford’s family has given some £14 million in cash and gifts to the Conservative Party since 2001.
The close links between Mr Johnson and the billionaire family saw the PM visit the JCB factory in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire during the 2019 election campaign.
The PM famously used the trip to crash a digger, with “Get Brexit done” emblazoned on the bucket, through a fake wall marked “gridlock” as he drummed up support for his EU exit plan.
In January 2019, while he was brooding on the backbenches plotting his path to No10 having quit Theresa May’s Cabinet over her Brussels withdrawal deal, Mr Johnson made his “comeback” speech at JCB headquarters.
The firm paid him £10,000 just three days before he delivered his address, which was peppered with references to the company and its diggers.
The PM’s spokesman said of today's visit in India: “He chose to go to the JCB factory because it is a very good illustration of UK business, working with India and the Indian government to benefit both the UK and India.
“This is something that helps benefit the UK, whether it's jobs or investment.
"Obviously it's helping the India economy as well."
Downing Street denied it was a conflict of interest for the PM to meet a major Tory donor on the Indian trip and insisted he was meeting "a number of businesses, universities and science and tech firms" on the trip.
Asked about the PM’s visit to its Indian operation, JCB declined to comment.
The PM was also challenged to raise tricky issues with Indian PM Narendra Modi, such as the use of bulldozers to destroy Muslim homes.
He said: “We always raise the difficult issues, of course we do, but the fact is that India is a country of 1.35 billion people and it is democratic, it’s the world’s largest democracy.”
Asked if the PM was embarrassed to visit the factory at a time when the firm was accused of destroying Muslim homes in Delhi at the Supreme Court, his spokesman replied: "I think this is predominantly a matter for the Indian authorities. The PM was asked about this in his clip earlier this morning.
"JCB is a great example of a UK country that has invested heavily in India and the factory we visited today is the sixth one they have opened there.
"They are one of the biggest producers in India of this sort of machinery."
JCB declined to comment.
The crisis-hit Prime Minister received a warm welcome when he touched down in Ahmedabad this morning where he was greeted by Gujarati chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel and handed a series of bouquets of red flowers.
Organised displays of well-wishers lined his route, with posters adorned with his face and the message, “Welcome to Gujarat”, on billboards. Mr Johnson attempted to put his Partygate woes behind him on the trip, which began with a visit to Mahatma Gandhi's ashram in Gujarat.
Two women showed the Prime Minister how to spin the cloth promoted by the Indian independence leader on a traditional wheel.
Mr Johnson told them: "It's a bit of an art, this spinning."
