TORY MP ON INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE IS PAID BY AZERBAIJAN LOBBY GROUP
Rajeev Syal and Solomon Hughes
guardian.co.uk
Wednesday 5 October 2011 16.55 BST
Mark Field denies conflict of interest over his links to a country
whose human rights record is criticised by the Foreign Office
MPs expenses published online The intelligence and security
committee, to which Mark Field belongs, reports directly to the prime
minister. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
A Conservative MP who sits on the committee that scrutinises the
security services is being paid £6,000 a year by a pro-Azerbaijan
lobby group.
Mark Field, MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, has joined
the advisory board of the European Azerbaijan Society. Azerbaijan’s
government has been criticised this year by the Foreign Office
and Amnesty International for torturing protesters campaigning for
political reforms. Labour MPs have questioned whether Field’s new
job is appropriate given the sensitive nature of the work of the
intelligence committee.
Field, 46, is the youngest ever MP to serve on the committee,
which reports directly to 10 Downing Street and oversees the UK’s
intelligence and security services.
The committee is unique because it consists of nine parliamentarians
appointed by, and reporting directly to, the prime minister. It has
greater powers than a select committee of parliament, being able to
demand papers from former governments and official advice to ministers,
both of which are not open to select committees. His new advisory
role began in June. He is also the chairman of the all-party group
for Azerbaijan.
Field flew to Azerbaijan to meet senior Azeri politicians in May on
a five-day trip that cost around £3,500 and in July 2010 he spoke in
the country’s capital, Baku, at a Nato conference.
In March Prince Andrew met Field at Buckingham Palace and asked
for support in parliament and Whitehall for British investment in
Azerbaijan.
The European Azerbaijan Society was launched in November 2008 to
promote Azerbaijan to international audiences, according to its
website.
The country is the size of the island of Ireland and sits on the edges
of eastern Europe and west Asia. It is attracting increasing interest
from foreign powers because of an abundance of gas and oil reserves.
Tale Heydarov, a 26-year-old businessman whose father is one of
Azerbaijan’s ministers, is the society’s main funder and director.
A former student at the London School of Economics, he has been
described as the “Abramovich of Azerbaijan” after pouring millions of
pounds into his local football team – including £1m a year in wages
to recruit the former England captain Tony Adams as manager.
Azerbaijan is ruled by the authoritarian president Ilham Aliyev and,
according to the Foreign Office, the country’s human rights record
is poor. Journalists in the country have been harassed and jailed,
opposition candidates disqualified and voters intimidated.
In March Amnesty International called upon Azerbaijan’s authorities to
end their crackdown on activists preparing for a protest inspired by
recent events in the Middle East and north Africa. Detainees said they
had been waterboarded and threatened with rape while in police custody.
A spokesman for the Foreign Office said human rights remained a
crucial issue in the country. “We and the EU have raised our concern
over the slow progress in improving human rights in Azerbaijan on
many occasions. These concerns still exist.”
The society has increased its profile in Westminster over the past
year. It provides secretarial services for the all-party parliamentary
group on Azerbaijan, which has 20 members.
It has organised high-profile meetings and receptions at all three
of the main party conferences.
The society also founded “Conservative Friends of Azerbaijan” this
year, which has 25 Tory parliamentarians as members. Robert Halfon
MP is vice-chair and Chris Pincher MP is treasurer. Other members
include the deputy speaker Nigel Evans and the 1922 Committee chairman,
Graham Brady.
Approached this week, Field said it was “absurd” to claim that he
should not have taken up his new position. He said he had met Tale
Heydarov on a couple of occasions.
“The reason that I have been out there [to Azerbaijan] on two occasions
is because the country is trying to develop its financial services
sector. There is no question of a conflict of interest,” he said.
“I have signed the Official Secrets Act and I will not be divulging
any secrets to the Azerbaijan government or anyone else connected to
any of the other organisations or all-party committees I am involved
with. It would be absurd and would be quite improper to think that
anyone on the security and intelligence committee could not have any
other outside interests,” he said.
A spokesman for the society said the Heydarovs were not its only
funders and it was an independent organisation, entirely separate
from the Azerbaijan government.
John Mann, the Labour MP for Bassetlaw, said: “This shows how wrong
it can go when an MP takes a second job. It is an obvious conflict
of interest.”
Lisa Nandy, the Labour MP for Wigan who chairs the all-party
group on corporate responsibility, said: “As one of a small number
of parliamentarians who have the power to influence the British
intelligence services and access to highly sensitive information, it
is inappropriate that he is paid by a company promoting a government
that is willing to torture those who question the status quo.”