Mike Hancock
Encyclopedia
Michael Thomas Hancock, CBE
(born 9 April 1946), known as Mike Hancock, is a British
politician
. He is Liberal Democrat
Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South and a City councillor for Fratton ward.
, Hampshire
, the son of a Portsmouth sailor
. He was educated at comprehensive schools in Portsmouth. He worked as an engineer
until he was first elected to Parliament
, and in the years between his parliamentary career he worked as both a director of the Daytime Club at the BBC
and as a district officer for MENCAP
.
in 1968 and was elected as a councillor to the Portsmouth City Council in 1970. He left the Labour Party and joined the new Social Democratic Party
(SDP) in 1981, and became the leader of the council in 1989 until his second election to the House of Commons, and he remains a member for Fratton on the city council. He was also elected to the Hampshire County Council
in 1973, becoming the leader of the Labour group on the council in 1977 until he left party, leading the council 1989-97 when he stood down.
He contested Portsmouth South for the SDP at the 1983 General Election
but lost to the sitting Conservative
MP Bonner Pink
by 12,335 votes. Pink died on 6 May 1984, and Hancock was elected, again for the SDP, at the by-election
by 1,341 votes. In his book Time To Declare the SDP leader David Owen
claimed that Hancock's victory prevented a Liberal attempt to subsume the SDP before the 1987 General Election. However, he later lost his seat in the 1987 General Election
to the Tory David Martin
by just 205 votes. He narrowly lost the seat to Martin again at the 1992 General Election
, this time by just 242 votes. He also contested the European Parliament
seat of Wight and Hampshire South
in 1994. He returned to parliament at the 1997 General Election
, defeating Martin by 4,327 votes and has held the seat for the Liberal Democrats since.
He was promoted to the frontbench
by Paddy Ashdown
in 1997 as the spokesman on foreign and commonwealth affairs
until 2000 when he was moved by Charles Kennedy
to speak on the environment, transport and the regions, but returned to the backbenches
following the 2001 General Election
.
It was reported that he signed nomination forms for more than one candidate in the 2006 Liberal Democrat
leadership election, in order to ensure a 'proper contest'.
select committee from 1999 to 2011 and has been on the Speaker's panel of chairmen since 1999. He is the vice chairman of the all party groups on Croatia
, and Russia
.
He was previously chair of the Russia group, until being ousted by Labour's Chris Bryant
, because he was felt to be too lenient towards Moscow: "We were concerned by Mike Hancock's pro-Putin
and pro-Medvedev
position. That is why I stood against him and ousted him. His research assistant, who provided secretarial support to the group, was incensed and walked out."
Hancock holds various positions on the Council of Europe
, including a committee position on the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).
On 18th October 2011, amidst espionage
allegations, Hancock resigned from his post on the defence select committee
, a Hungarian member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
, said of his colleague Hancock in August 2010: "He is the most pro-Russian MP from among all of the countries of western Europe. You just have to read his speeches. When it came to debates on Putin, freedom of the media or the war
with Georgia
, Michael always defended Russia. Among the Liberal bloc in Strasbourg we were all stunned by his position. According to him, Russia
really is a fully-fledged democracy."
Hancock has said that he will act to defend the government of Azerbaijan
in the British Parliament. He says that he disapproves of criticism of President Ilham Aliyev
's regime, and has stated that, in particular, he disapproves of the democratic opposition movement within Azerbaijan.
Hancock has stated that he does not believe the Armenian Genocide
actually happened, describing it as a "so-called genocide" based on "dubious historical" claims; in March 2010, he said: "Armenia is like a headless chicken that runs around in circles. They really do not know where to run."
Hancock is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society
, a charity campaigning campaigning for an end to the use of animals in entertainment, including circuses, zoos, the exotic pet trade and the audio-visual industry.
Hancock is a notable supporter of homeopathy
, having signed several early day motions in support of its continued funding on the National Health Service
.
which had led to Hancock's arrest on 12 October 2010 and release on bail until January 2011. The case related to allegations that he had made sexual advances to a vulnerable constituent after she had contacted him seeking assistance with noisy neighbours.
national Ekaterina "Katia" Zatuliveter (Екатерина Затуливетер) and her friend were questioned at Gatwick Airport on returning from celebrating her 25th birthday in Croatia
. Hancock had met Zatuliveter in Strasbourg
where she worked for the Council of Europe
. She started working as an aide to Hancock in 2008, after having been an intern at the House of Commons for a while and undergoing security vetting
. Until Hancock was ousted as chairman of the All-Party Group on Russia in June 2010, Zatuliveter had been the group's secretary, giving her direct access to all MPs with the greatest interest in Russia and legitimate reason to liaise with the Russian authorities; according to sources at Westminster
, Zatuliveter had access to Hancock's private emails, and virtually ran the UK-Russia group.
Reportedly, Zatuliveter had been identified by MI5
(UK Security Service) when surveillance
linked her to another person with close links to the Russian embassy in London; the latter was suspected of working for the SVR
, Russia's foreign intelligence service.
On 4 December 2010, it was reported that Zatuliveter was facing deportation in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre
, after she was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service
on behalf of MI5 and the Border and Immigration Agency
on 2 December 2010, on suspicion of espionage
, the police action having been approved by Home Secretary
Theresa May
. The incident happened in the wake of the uncovering and expulsion
of ten Russian sleeper agent
s in the US in June 2010, including a young woman who had British citizenship
, Anna Chapman
.
On 5 December 2010, Hancock confirmed the detention of Zatuliveter and advised the media that she was appealing deportation. In subsequent interviews on the same day, he called the espionage accusations "absolutely ludicrous" commenting further: "I have no reason to believe she did anything but act honourably during the time she was working for me. She is determined to fight her corner and she genuinely believes, and I back her 100%, that she has nothing to hide and has done nothing wrong. If she has, the (security) services are right. But they need to prove their point now." Hancock also insisted that there was nothing unusual about the requests for information his office had tabled on the locations of the berths for Britain's submarines, the full inventory of the country's missiles
as well as other sensitive parts of Britain’s defences. Hancock had asked 50 questions in the Commons on issues associated with Britain's nuclear deterrent since the start of 2008, having asked a total of 119 since 1984; and asked 49 written questions of Ministers on nuclear issues since the start of 2008, having asked a total of 108 since 1984.
The media quoted some of Hancock's former Council of Europe
's liberal group
colleagues as saying that in the 2000s Hancock would usually come to their regular private gatherings alongside a series of young Russian and Ukrainian women - in spite of protests by some of those; Hancock's former colleagues said they had witnessed his alleged assistants using the computers of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, the liberal group secretariat, which were supposed to be protected by a password; apparently his 'assistants' knew the password. Hancock denied claims by Mátyás Eörsi
that he had failed to declare all of his visits to Russia, saying that he did not know exactly how many trips he had made to Russia, as his passport had "fallen into the sea".
In his 7 December 2010 interview, Oleg Gordievsky
, ex-KGB
intelligence expert, said he was convinced that Zatuliveter's activity had "inflicted more damage [to the UK security] than the entire KGB rezidentura"; according to his information, Zatuliveter had been recruited when a student at St. Petersburg University
. On the same day, it was reported that Hancock had allegedly agreed to help another Russian national, a 25-year-old Ekaterina Paderina, stay in Britain after she ran into visa problems in the late 1990s
.
On 7 December 2010 Russia's Foreign Ministry described the affair as "vaudeville based on a threadbare spy plot" being whipped up by the UK media, which could "only be regarded with pity".
On 9 December 2010, Yekaterina Zatuliveter filed an appeal against arrest and deportation to Russia; in a statement released by her lawyer Tessa Gregory, Zatuliveter said British authorities had failed to provide evidence of her work not being "conducive to national security"; of MI5 she said: "I fully cooperated with them when they questioned me. I have nothing to hide and was only doing my job as a parliamentary researcher." Also on that day, Alexander Sternik, Russia's chargé d'affaires said of Hancock: "Mike Hancock is one of those people who are known to have a balanced objective and sympathetic approach towards the modern Russia and its foreign policy." Sternik also said that the Russian view of the affair was that Hancock was being targeted because he was a parliamentarian who "showed sympathy and understanding for the modern Russian state"; of Zatuliver's detention he said: "We have not received, although we insisted on this, any clarification as to the motives and the reasons that this detention was made."
As was officially revealed on 21 December 2010, on 10 December the Foreign Secretary
William Hague
had demanded that the Russian embassy in London withdraw a member of their staff, an avowed intelligence officer, from the UK - "in response to clear evidence of activities by the Russian intelligence services against UK interests"; the ultimatum was purportedly unrelated to the Zatuliveter affair.
A Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) hearing on her case begun on 18 October 2011 was told by Zatuliveter about two diplomats from the Russian embassy she had met, including one known as “Boris” on whose business card she had written “KGB” as she had heard rumours he was a spy.
Zatuliveter admitted to having had a four year affair with Hancock, and also admitted that she had had affairs with NATO official (a 56 year old married German diplomat nicknamed Bananaman whose daughter lives in the USA) and , a Dutch diplomat and a senior UN official.
On 29 November 2011, the SIAC delivered its ruling that allowed the appeal; the SIAC's Open Judgment concluded: "We are satisfied that it is significantly more likely than not that she was and is not a Russian agent."
in the borough of Fareham
, on the outskirts of Portsmouth.
He was described in 2010 by The Times
as a "renowned womanizer".
The 2011 SIAC's ruling on Zatuliveter's appeal noted of her relationship with him: "The relationship with Mr. Hancock was enduring and genuine on both sides."
since 1989 and has been the vice chairman of Portsmouth Dock since 1992. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the same year.
CBE
CBE and C.B.E. are abbreviations for "Commander of the Order of the British Empire", a grade in the Order of the British Empire.Other uses include:* Chemical and Biochemical Engineering...
(born 9 April 1946), known as Mike Hancock, is a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
politician
Politician
A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...
. He is Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Member of Parliament (MP) for Portsmouth South and a City councillor for Fratton ward.
Early life
Hancock was born in PortsmouthPortsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, the son of a Portsmouth sailor
Sailor
A sailor, mariner, or seaman is a person who navigates water-borne vessels or assists in their operation, maintenance, or service. The term can apply to professional mariners, military personnel, and recreational sailors as well as a plethora of other uses...
. He was educated at comprehensive schools in Portsmouth. He worked as an engineer
Engineer
An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...
until he was first elected to Parliament
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, and in the years between his parliamentary career he worked as both a director of the Daytime Club at the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
and as a district officer for MENCAP
Mencap
The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the UK that works with people with a learning disability.-Profile:Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers...
.
Political career
He joined the Labour PartyLabour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
in 1968 and was elected as a councillor to the Portsmouth City Council in 1970. He left the Labour Party and joined the new Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party (UK)
The Social Democratic Party was a political party in the United Kingdom that was created on 26 March 1981 and existed until 1988. It was founded by four senior Labour Party 'moderates', dubbed the 'Gang of Four': Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams...
(SDP) in 1981, and became the leader of the council in 1989 until his second election to the House of Commons, and he remains a member for Fratton on the city council. He was also elected to the Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council
Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...
in 1973, becoming the leader of the Labour group on the council in 1977 until he left party, leading the council 1989-97 when he stood down.
He contested Portsmouth South for the SDP at the 1983 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1983
The 1983 United Kingdom general election was held on 9 June 1983. It gave the Conservative Party under Margaret Thatcher the most decisive election victory since that of Labour in 1945...
but lost to the sitting Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
MP Bonner Pink
Bonner Pink
Ralph Bonner Pink, known as Bonner Pink, was a British Conservative politician.Pink was educated at Oundle School and was a company director...
by 12,335 votes. Pink died on 6 May 1984, and Hancock was elected, again for the SDP, at the by-election
Portsmouth South by-election, 1984
The Portsmouth South by-election was held on 14 June 1984, following the death of Bonner Pink, the Conservative MP for Portsmouth South.Portsmouth South was considered a safe seat for the Conservatives. Pink had held the constituency since the 1966 general election, while the party had held the...
by 1,341 votes. In his book Time To Declare the SDP leader David Owen
David Owen
David Anthony Llewellyn Owen, Baron Owen CH PC FRCP is a British politician.Owen served as British Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979, the youngest person in over forty years to hold the post; he co-authored the failed Vance-Owen and Owen-Stoltenberg peace plans offered during the Bosnian War...
claimed that Hancock's victory prevented a Liberal attempt to subsume the SDP before the 1987 General Election. However, he later lost his seat in the 1987 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1987
The United Kingdom general election of 1987 was held on 11 June 1987, to elect 650 members to the British House of Commons. The election was the third consecutive election victory for the Conservative Party under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher, who became the first Prime Minister since the 2nd...
to the Tory David Martin
David Martin (English politician)
David John Pattison Martin is a British politician who served as the Conservative Member of Parliament for Portsmouth South from 1987 until 1997...
by just 205 votes. He narrowly lost the seat to Martin again at the 1992 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1992
The United Kingdom general election of 1992 was held on 9 April 1992, and was the fourth consecutive victory for the Conservative Party. This election result was one of the biggest surprises in 20th Century politics, as polling leading up to the day of the election showed Labour under leader Neil...
, this time by just 242 votes. He also contested the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
seat of Wight and Hampshire South
Wight and Hampshire South (European Parliament constituency)
Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
in 1994. He returned to parliament at the 1997 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 1997
The United Kingdom general election, 1997 was held on 1 May 1997, more than five years after the previous election on 9 April 1992, to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. The Labour Party ended its 18 years in opposition under the leadership of Tony Blair, and won the general...
, defeating Martin by 4,327 votes and has held the seat for the Liberal Democrats since.
He was promoted to the frontbench
Frontbencher
In many parliaments and other similar assemblies, seating is typically arranged in banks or rows, with each political party or caucus grouped together. The spokespeople for each group will often sit at the front of their group, and are then known as being on the frontbench and are described as...
by Paddy Ashdown
Paddy Ashdown
Jeremy John Durham Ashdown, Baron Ashdown of Norton-sub-Hamdon, GCMG, KBE, PC , usually known as Paddy Ashdown, is a British politician and diplomat....
in 1997 as the spokesman on foreign and commonwealth affairs
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
until 2000 when he was moved by Charles Kennedy
Charles Kennedy
Charles Peter Kennedy is a British Liberal Democrat politician, who led the Liberal Democrats from 9 August 1999 until 7 January 2006 and is currently a Member of Parliament for the Ross, Skye and Lochaber constituency....
to speak on the environment, transport and the regions, but returned to the backbenches
Backbencher
In Westminster parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a Member of Parliament or a legislator who does not hold governmental office and is not a Front Bench spokesperson in the Opposition...
following the 2001 General Election
United Kingdom general election, 2001
The United Kingdom general election, 2001 was held on Thursday 7 June 2001 to elect 659 members to the British House of Commons. It was dubbed "the quiet landslide" by the media, as the Labour Party was re-elected with another landslide result and only suffered a net loss of 6 seats...
.
It was reported that he signed nomination forms for more than one candidate in the 2006 Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
leadership election, in order to ensure a 'proper contest'.
Committee membership
He was member of both the defenceMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
select committee from 1999 to 2011 and has been on the Speaker's panel of chairmen since 1999. He is the vice chairman of the all party groups on Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
, and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
.
He was previously chair of the Russia group, until being ousted by Labour's Chris Bryant
Chris Bryant
Christopher John Bryant is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Rhondda since 2001...
, because he was felt to be too lenient towards Moscow: "We were concerned by Mike Hancock's pro-Putin
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
and pro-Medvedev
Dmitry Medvedev
Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
position. That is why I stood against him and ousted him. His research assistant, who provided secretarial support to the group, was incensed and walked out."
Hancock holds various positions on the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
, including a committee position on the Committee on the Honouring of Obligations and Commitments by Member States of the Council of Europe (Monitoring Committee).
On 18th October 2011, amidst espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
allegations, Hancock resigned from his post on the defence select committee
Political views and stances
Matyas EorsiMátyás Eörsi
Mátyás Eörsi MP, is a Hungarian politician who was the leader of the liberal ALDE-PACE Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe . He became a member of the PACE in 1994...
, a Hungarian member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
, said of his colleague Hancock in August 2010: "He is the most pro-Russian MP from among all of the countries of western Europe. You just have to read his speeches. When it came to debates on Putin, freedom of the media or the war
2008 South Ossetia war
The 2008 South Ossetia War or Russo-Georgian War was an armed conflict in August 2008 between Georgia on one side, and Russia and separatist governments of South Ossetia and Abkhazia on the other....
with Georgia
Georgia (country)
Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...
, Michael always defended Russia. Among the Liberal bloc in Strasbourg we were all stunned by his position. According to him, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
really is a fully-fledged democracy."
Hancock has said that he will act to defend the government of Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan , officially the Republic of Azerbaijan is the largest country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia to the west, and Iran to...
in the British Parliament. He says that he disapproves of criticism of President Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Aliyev
Ilham Heydar oglu Aliyev is the President of Azerbaijan since 2003. He also functions as the Chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party and the head of the National Olympic Committee...
's regime, and has stated that, in particular, he disapproves of the democratic opposition movement within Azerbaijan.
Hancock has stated that he does not believe the Armenian Genocide
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian Genocide—also known as the Armenian Holocaust, the Armenian Massacres and, by Armenians, as the Great Crime—refers to the deliberate and systematic destruction of the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire during and just after World War I...
actually happened, describing it as a "so-called genocide" based on "dubious historical" claims; in March 2010, he said: "Armenia is like a headless chicken that runs around in circles. They really do not know where to run."
Hancock is a patron of the Captive Animals Protection Society
Captive Animals Protection Society
The Captive Animals' Protection Society is a UK charity campaigning to end the use of animals in entertainment, including circuses, zoos, the exotic pet trade and the audio-visual industry.-History:...
, a charity campaigning campaigning for an end to the use of animals in entertainment, including circuses, zoos, the exotic pet trade and the audio-visual industry.
Hancock is a notable supporter of homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, having signed several early day motions in support of its continued funding on the National Health Service
National Health Service
The National Health Service is the shared name of three of the four publicly funded healthcare systems in the United Kingdom. They provide a comprehensive range of health services, the vast majority of which are free at the point of use to residents of the United Kingdom...
.
Indecent assault arrest
In December 2010, it was announced by the Hampshire Police that Hancock would not face charges over claims of indecent assaultIndecent assault
Indecent assault is an offence of aggravated assault in many jurisdictions. It is characterised as a sex crime.Indecent assault was an offence in England and Wales under sections 14 and 15 the Sexual Offences Act 1956...
which had led to Hancock's arrest on 12 October 2010 and release on bail until January 2011. The case related to allegations that he had made sexual advances to a vulnerable constituent after she had contacted him seeking assistance with noisy neighbours.
Russian aide's arrest, espionage allegation and extra-marital affair
On 8 August 2010, one of Hancock's parliamentary aides, RussianRussians
The Russian people are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Russia, speaking the Russian language and primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries....
national Ekaterina "Katia" Zatuliveter (Екатерина Затуливетер) and her friend were questioned at Gatwick Airport on returning from celebrating her 25th birthday in Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. Hancock had met Zatuliveter in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
where she worked for the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
. She started working as an aide to Hancock in 2008, after having been an intern at the House of Commons for a while and undergoing security vetting
Vetting
Vetting is a process of examination and evaluation, generally referring to performing a background check on someone before offering him or her employment, conferring an award, etc...
. Until Hancock was ousted as chairman of the All-Party Group on Russia in June 2010, Zatuliveter had been the group's secretary, giving her direct access to all MPs with the greatest interest in Russia and legitimate reason to liaise with the Russian authorities; according to sources at Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
, Zatuliveter had access to Hancock's private emails, and virtually ran the UK-Russia group.
Reportedly, Zatuliveter had been identified by MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
(UK Security Service) when surveillance
Surveillance
Surveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
linked her to another person with close links to the Russian embassy in London; the latter was suspected of working for the SVR
Foreign Intelligence Service (Russia)
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service is Russia's primary external intelligence agency. The SVR is the successor of the First Chief Directorate of the KGB since December 1991...
, Russia's foreign intelligence service.
On 4 December 2010, it was reported that Zatuliveter was facing deportation in Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre
Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre
Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre is an immigration detention centre at Milton Ernest in the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire. It opened on 19 November 2001 and was built to hold up to 900 people making it the largest immigration detention centre in Europe at the time. Since opening in 2001...
, after she was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Service
Metropolitan Police Service
The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for Greater London, excluding the "square mile" of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police...
on behalf of MI5 and the Border and Immigration Agency
Border and Immigration Agency
The Border and Immigration Agency was an executive agency of the British Home Office, created on 1 April 2007. The Agency assumed the responsibilities of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate for managing immigration control in the UK...
on 2 December 2010, on suspicion of espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
, the police action having been approved by Home Secretary
Home Secretary
The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State...
Theresa May
Theresa May
Theresa Mary May is a British Conservative politician who is Home Secretary in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition government. She was elected to Parliament in 1997 as the Member of Parliament for Maidenhead, and served as the Chairman of the Conservative Party, 2003–04...
. The incident happened in the wake of the uncovering and expulsion
Illegals Program
The Illegals Program, as it was called by the United States Department of Justice, was a network of Russian sleeper agents under non-official cover whose investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation culminated in the arrest of ten agents and a prisoner swap between Russia and the United...
of ten Russian sleeper agent
Sleeper agent
A sleeper agent is a spy who is placed in a target country or organization, not to undertake an immediate mission, but rather to act as a potential asset if activated...
s in the US in June 2010, including a young woman who had British citizenship
British nationality law
British nationality law is the law of the United Kingdom that concerns citizenship and other categories of British nationality. The law is complex because of the United Kingdom's former status as an imperial power.-History:...
, Anna Chapman
Anna Chapman
Anna Vasil’yevna Chapman is a Russian national, who was living in New York, United States when she was arrested along with nine others on 27 June 2010, on suspicion of working for the Illegals Program spy ring under the Russian Federation's external intelligence agency, the SVR...
.
On 5 December 2010, Hancock confirmed the detention of Zatuliveter and advised the media that she was appealing deportation. In subsequent interviews on the same day, he called the espionage accusations "absolutely ludicrous" commenting further: "I have no reason to believe she did anything but act honourably during the time she was working for me. She is determined to fight her corner and she genuinely believes, and I back her 100%, that she has nothing to hide and has done nothing wrong. If she has, the (security) services are right. But they need to prove their point now." Hancock also insisted that there was nothing unusual about the requests for information his office had tabled on the locations of the berths for Britain's submarines, the full inventory of the country's missiles
Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom was the third country to test an independently developed nuclear weapon, in October 1952. It is one of the five "Nuclear Weapons States" under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which the UK ratified in 1968...
as well as other sensitive parts of Britain’s defences. Hancock had asked 50 questions in the Commons on issues associated with Britain's nuclear deterrent since the start of 2008, having asked a total of 119 since 1984; and asked 49 written questions of Ministers on nuclear issues since the start of 2008, having asked a total of 108 since 1984.
The media quoted some of Hancock's former Council of Europe
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe , which held its first session in Strasbourg on 10 August 1949, can be considered the oldest international parliamentary assembly with a pluralistic composition of democratically elected members of parliament established on the basis of an...
's liberal group
Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe is a transnational alliance between two European political parties: the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party and the European Democratic Party. It has political groups in the European Parliament, the EU Committee of the Regions, the...
colleagues as saying that in the 2000s Hancock would usually come to their regular private gatherings alongside a series of young Russian and Ukrainian women - in spite of protests by some of those; Hancock's former colleagues said they had witnessed his alleged assistants using the computers of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, the liberal group secretariat, which were supposed to be protected by a password; apparently his 'assistants' knew the password. Hancock denied claims by Mátyás Eörsi
Mátyás Eörsi
Mátyás Eörsi MP, is a Hungarian politician who was the leader of the liberal ALDE-PACE Group in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe . He became a member of the PACE in 1994...
that he had failed to declare all of his visits to Russia, saying that he did not know exactly how many trips he had made to Russia, as his passport had "fallen into the sea".
In his 7 December 2010 interview, Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Gordievsky
Oleg Antonovich Gordievsky , CMG , is a former Colonel of the KGB and KGB Resident-designate and bureau chief in London, who was a secret agent of the British Secret Intelligence Service from 1974 to 1985.-Early career:Oleg Gordievsky attended the Moscow State Institute of International...
, ex-KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
intelligence expert, said he was convinced that Zatuliveter's activity had "inflicted more damage [to the UK security] than the entire KGB rezidentura"; according to his information, Zatuliveter had been recruited when a student at St. Petersburg University
Saint Petersburg State University
Saint Petersburg State University is a Russian federal state-owned higher education institution based in Saint Petersburg and one of the oldest and largest universities in Russia....
. On the same day, it was reported that Hancock had allegedly agreed to help another Russian national, a 25-year-old Ekaterina Paderina, stay in Britain after she ran into visa problems in the late 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
.
On 7 December 2010 Russia's Foreign Ministry described the affair as "vaudeville based on a threadbare spy plot" being whipped up by the UK media, which could "only be regarded with pity".
On 9 December 2010, Yekaterina Zatuliveter filed an appeal against arrest and deportation to Russia; in a statement released by her lawyer Tessa Gregory, Zatuliveter said British authorities had failed to provide evidence of her work not being "conducive to national security"; of MI5 she said: "I fully cooperated with them when they questioned me. I have nothing to hide and was only doing my job as a parliamentary researcher." Also on that day, Alexander Sternik, Russia's chargé d'affaires said of Hancock: "Mike Hancock is one of those people who are known to have a balanced objective and sympathetic approach towards the modern Russia and its foreign policy." Sternik also said that the Russian view of the affair was that Hancock was being targeted because he was a parliamentarian who "showed sympathy and understanding for the modern Russian state"; of Zatuliver's detention he said: "We have not received, although we insisted on this, any clarification as to the motives and the reasons that this detention was made."
As was officially revealed on 21 December 2010, on 10 December the Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
William Hague
William Hague
William Jefferson Hague is the British Foreign Secretary and First Secretary of State. He served as Leader of the Conservative Party from June 1997 to September 2001...
had demanded that the Russian embassy in London withdraw a member of their staff, an avowed intelligence officer, from the UK - "in response to clear evidence of activities by the Russian intelligence services against UK interests"; the ultimatum was purportedly unrelated to the Zatuliveter affair.
A Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) hearing on her case begun on 18 October 2011 was told by Zatuliveter about two diplomats from the Russian embassy she had met, including one known as “Boris” on whose business card she had written “KGB” as she had heard rumours he was a spy.
Zatuliveter admitted to having had a four year affair with Hancock, and also admitted that she had had affairs with NATO official (a 56 year old married German diplomat nicknamed Bananaman whose daughter lives in the USA) and , a Dutch diplomat and a senior UN official.
On 29 November 2011, the SIAC delivered its ruling that allowed the appeal; the SIAC's Open Judgment concluded: "We are satisfied that it is significantly more likely than not that she was and is not a Russian agent."
Personal life
He has been married to Jacqueline Elliott since 1967, and has a son and a daughter. The couple currently reside in PortchesterPortchester
Portchester is a locality and suburb 10km northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the borough of Fareham in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton, on the A27 main thoroughfare...
in the borough of Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
, on the outskirts of Portsmouth.
He was described in 2010 by The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
as a "renowned womanizer".
The 2011 SIAC's ruling on Zatuliveter's appeal noted of her relationship with him: "The relationship with Mr. Hancock was enduring and genuine on both sides."
Other activities and awards
He has been the chairman of the southern region of the NSPCCNSPCC
The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children is a United Kingdom charity campaigning and working in child protection.-History:...
since 1989 and has been the vice chairman of Portsmouth Dock since 1992. He was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the same year.
External links
- Mike Hancock MP official constituency website
- Mike Hancock MP Liberal Democrats profile