Tory MP on intelligence committee is paid by Azerbaijan lobby group

Mark Field denies conflict of interest over his links to a country whose human rights record is criticised by the Foreign Office 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.” Azerbaijan Rajeev Syal guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 5, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.