Push to crack down on foreign states’ influence over MPs’ cross-party groups

Fears have been raised for years among security officials about the opaque nature of how APPGs – of which there are more than 740 – operate. Photograph: Linda Nylind/The Guardian

MPs should be banned from using foreign governments to fund parliamentary “special interest” groups, a committee has recommended as part of a crackdown on the influence of potentially hostile states in parliament.

At least two Gulf countries are said to have financially supported All Party Parliamentary Groups (APPGs), while fears have been raised for years among security officials about the opaque nature of how the networks operate.