ianstone
09-05-2010, 01:38 PM
Hague took friend on a fact-finding, taxpayer-funded trip to Afghanistan, even though he had no official job
By Simon Walters And George Arbuthnot (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Simon+Walters+And+George+Arbuthnot)
Last updated at 4:04 PM on 5th September 2010
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Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309127/Hague-took-friend-fact-finding-taxpayer-funded-trip-Afghanistan-official-job.html)
William Hague took his driver and friend Chris Myers on a taxpayer-funded trip to Afghanistan and on the way back spent two nights with him in Bahrain.
The Foreign Secretary paid for Mr Myers to fly first-class from Bahrain back to London. Mr Myers also accompanied Mr Hague on visits to Northern Ireland funded by wealthy Tory donors.
The fresh details of Mr Myers’s globetrotting exploits with Mr Hague came to light yesterday as Tory MPs said the Foreign Secretary’s association with his special adviser - and his panicky response when it became public - may have caused lasting damage to his reputation.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/04/article-1309127-0B0A09DD000005DC-959_468x336.jpg Front line: Mr Hague with Mr Osborne in Afghanistan - Hague also took former adviser Chris Myers on a trip to the war-torn country
Mr Myers quit his £30,000-a-year Foreign Office post last week after it became clear that he and Mr Hague, 49, had shared twin hotel rooms.
Critics said Mr Myers, 25, who trained as a quantity surveyor and was Mr Hague’s unpaid driver during the Election campaign, was not qualified to work in the Foreign Office.
Mr Hague admitted that sharing a hotel room was a mistake but said he was not gay.
On Twitter, the minister thanks everyone for their support. 'Feel I must say a big thank you from Ffion and me for the huge public support, on twitter, in letters and in emails,' he wrote on the micro-blogging site.
Mr Myers joined Mr Hague and George Osborne on the trip to Afghanistan in January. At the time, the Conservatives were in Opposition and Mr Myers had no formal status with Mr Hague. He was not employed by Mr Hague or the Conservative Party.
More...
Solved - the mystery of that baseball cap, in William Hague and Ffion's cowboy hideaway (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309132/Solved--mystery-baseball-cap-William-Hague-Ffions-cowboy-hideaway.html)
AMANDA PLATELL: It would be a tragedy for Britain if my friend William quit (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1308912/It-tragedy-Britain-friend-William-quit.html)
SUZANNE MOORE: Am I out of the loop in thinking you can share a hotel room without having sex? (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1309118/Am-I-loop-thinking-share-hotel-room-having-sex.html)
Mr Myers excitedly told friends how the Taliban had taken pot-shots at them, and showed off a video he had made of himself with Mr Hague and Mr Osborne in Kabul.
Although Mr Myers received no salary when he worked for Mr Hague in Opposition, friends say he received ‘expensive gifts’ from his friend and mentor, including a silk scarf.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/05/article-1309127-0B0A0C2A000005DC-475_468x668.jpg Hit hard: William Hague has been rocked regarding allegations of a relationship with Myers after the two shared a hotel room
The cost of Mr Myers’s three-day visit to Afghanistan, and his accommodation, was met by the Ministry of Defence.
On the way home, he and Mr Hague parted with Mr Osborne and stayed in Bahrain for two days. There, Mr Myers accompanied Mr Hague to a meeting with Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifah.
Mr Hague declared the stopover in Bahrain in the Commons Register of Interests. He said Bahrain’s ministry of foreign affairs paid the £1,115 cost of his two-night stay in a five-star hotel.
The entry says he paid for ‘the cost of my return flights to Bahrain’, which is believed to refer to his own flight and that of Mr Myers.
It is thought that Mr Hague also paid for Mr Myers’s hotel room. They had separate rooms.
While in Afghanistan, Mr Myers was in attendance as Mr Hague and Mr Osborne had talks with British soldiers, diplomats and Afghan political leaders.
There was drama when their helicopter convoy reported small-arms fire as it landed in Helmand.
The shots missed and it is not known if they were from an Afghan firing randomly into the air or someone seeking rewards offered by the Taliban for bringing down a helicopter.
Mr Hague kept his good humour when, on boarding the plane from Camp Bastion to Kabul, he discovered the military had lost his bag. ‘OK, George,’ he told Mr Osborne jokingly, ‘cut the defence budget.’
Mr Myers is understood to have texted his mother, Barbara, about the shooting incident. Mrs Myers is also said to have shown friends photographs taken by her son during the trip.
‘Barbara showed them pictures and video footage Chris had taken in Kabul,’ said a source. ‘They apparently showed Chris and William coming off the Chinook helicopter with George Osborne in the background. In every photo, Chris was always by William’s side.
‘Barbara was telling everyone that William had taken Chris to Afghanistan and how Chris had been texting her to say that when they were in the Chinook someone had taken pot-shots at them.’
Mr Myers also joined Mr Hague on at least two trips to Belfast, once during last year’s European elections and, more recently, shortly before the General Election. The trips were financed by Conservative donors.
Friends of the Myers family said Mr Hague would drive his car up to the
Myerses’ North Yorkshire home, get out of the driver’s door, walk around the front of the car and get into the passenger seat to make room for his chauffeur.
‘I was told William would draw his car up and go round to the passenger side and then Chris would come and get in the driver’s seat,’ said one source.
‘Apparently, Mrs Myers would come out and give William two smackers [kisses]. Some people thought it was a bit cheeky.’
The Foreign Office defended Mr Hague over the trips with Mr Myers, claiming there was nothing improper about them.
An official said they were an ideal way for Mr Myers to prepare to join the Foreign Office, adding: ‘If you want to learn about foreign relations, then going on these trips is an excellent way to do so. Nor was it uncommon for special advisers to work for no pay when they first entered politics.
‘People who are passionate about politics are often prepared to work for nothing at the start,’ said the official.
Asked if Mr Hague had bought expensive gifts for Mr Myers, the official said: ‘Not to my knowledge.’
Education Secretary Michael Gove strongly defended Mr Hague today.
'William is an outstanding Foreign Secretary, one of the most gifted politicians of our time,' he told the BBC.
'I feel admiration for the dignity with which he has always handled himself. There have been all sorts of attempts in the past to throw stuff at him, not least when he was leader. William is a real asset to frontline politics. We lucky to have him in public service.'
In hiding from wild women of Oxford
An invitation to an end-of-term party thrown by William Hague in his Oxford University days featured the cartoon shown here, of a cowboy singing the country and western song Cigarettes, Whisky And Wild, Wild Women.
But when the wild women turn up half-naked, the chap flees in terror.
A student friend, Damian Thompson, yesterday described how Mr Hague behaved just like the cowboy on the birthday invitation and ran away from one or two wild women at Oxford, though with good reason.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/04/article-1309127-00C8DEA500000190-809_468x315.jpg Old school: William Hague, pictured during his tenure as president of Oxford Students' Union
‘During the two years we overlapped at Oxford, I don’t think I heard anyone speculate that he was homosexual,’ said Mr Thompson.
‘People did notice that he never had a girlfriend. But having seen some of the horsey female undergraduates who threw themselves at him, we couldn’t blame him for running away.’
Mr Thompson recalls a girl of ‘Widdecombe-esque proportions’ pursuing the young Hague at a party, ‘calling “Where’s William?” in a voice like a huntsman’s bugle’.
Mr Thompson adds: ‘From behind me I heard those familiar South Yorkshire tones, “Oh bloody hell.” William was underneath the table, refusing to come out.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309127/Hague-took-friend-fact-finding-taxpayer-funded-trip-Afghanistan-official-job.html#ixzz0yg4ycMJE
By Simon Walters And George Arbuthnot (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Simon+Walters+And+George+Arbuthnot)
Last updated at 4:04 PM on 5th September 2010
Comments (100) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309127/Hague-took-friend-fact-finding-taxpayer-funded-trip-Afghanistan-official-job.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309127/Hague-took-friend-fact-finding-taxpayer-funded-trip-Afghanistan-official-job.html)
William Hague took his driver and friend Chris Myers on a taxpayer-funded trip to Afghanistan and on the way back spent two nights with him in Bahrain.
The Foreign Secretary paid for Mr Myers to fly first-class from Bahrain back to London. Mr Myers also accompanied Mr Hague on visits to Northern Ireland funded by wealthy Tory donors.
The fresh details of Mr Myers’s globetrotting exploits with Mr Hague came to light yesterday as Tory MPs said the Foreign Secretary’s association with his special adviser - and his panicky response when it became public - may have caused lasting damage to his reputation.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/04/article-1309127-0B0A09DD000005DC-959_468x336.jpg Front line: Mr Hague with Mr Osborne in Afghanistan - Hague also took former adviser Chris Myers on a trip to the war-torn country
Mr Myers quit his £30,000-a-year Foreign Office post last week after it became clear that he and Mr Hague, 49, had shared twin hotel rooms.
Critics said Mr Myers, 25, who trained as a quantity surveyor and was Mr Hague’s unpaid driver during the Election campaign, was not qualified to work in the Foreign Office.
Mr Hague admitted that sharing a hotel room was a mistake but said he was not gay.
On Twitter, the minister thanks everyone for their support. 'Feel I must say a big thank you from Ffion and me for the huge public support, on twitter, in letters and in emails,' he wrote on the micro-blogging site.
Mr Myers joined Mr Hague and George Osborne on the trip to Afghanistan in January. At the time, the Conservatives were in Opposition and Mr Myers had no formal status with Mr Hague. He was not employed by Mr Hague or the Conservative Party.
More...
Solved - the mystery of that baseball cap, in William Hague and Ffion's cowboy hideaway (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309132/Solved--mystery-baseball-cap-William-Hague-Ffions-cowboy-hideaway.html)
AMANDA PLATELL: It would be a tragedy for Britain if my friend William quit (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1308912/It-tragedy-Britain-friend-William-quit.html)
SUZANNE MOORE: Am I out of the loop in thinking you can share a hotel room without having sex? (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1309118/Am-I-loop-thinking-share-hotel-room-having-sex.html)
Mr Myers excitedly told friends how the Taliban had taken pot-shots at them, and showed off a video he had made of himself with Mr Hague and Mr Osborne in Kabul.
Although Mr Myers received no salary when he worked for Mr Hague in Opposition, friends say he received ‘expensive gifts’ from his friend and mentor, including a silk scarf.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/05/article-1309127-0B0A0C2A000005DC-475_468x668.jpg Hit hard: William Hague has been rocked regarding allegations of a relationship with Myers after the two shared a hotel room
The cost of Mr Myers’s three-day visit to Afghanistan, and his accommodation, was met by the Ministry of Defence.
On the way home, he and Mr Hague parted with Mr Osborne and stayed in Bahrain for two days. There, Mr Myers accompanied Mr Hague to a meeting with Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al Khalifah.
Mr Hague declared the stopover in Bahrain in the Commons Register of Interests. He said Bahrain’s ministry of foreign affairs paid the £1,115 cost of his two-night stay in a five-star hotel.
The entry says he paid for ‘the cost of my return flights to Bahrain’, which is believed to refer to his own flight and that of Mr Myers.
It is thought that Mr Hague also paid for Mr Myers’s hotel room. They had separate rooms.
While in Afghanistan, Mr Myers was in attendance as Mr Hague and Mr Osborne had talks with British soldiers, diplomats and Afghan political leaders.
There was drama when their helicopter convoy reported small-arms fire as it landed in Helmand.
The shots missed and it is not known if they were from an Afghan firing randomly into the air or someone seeking rewards offered by the Taliban for bringing down a helicopter.
Mr Hague kept his good humour when, on boarding the plane from Camp Bastion to Kabul, he discovered the military had lost his bag. ‘OK, George,’ he told Mr Osborne jokingly, ‘cut the defence budget.’
Mr Myers is understood to have texted his mother, Barbara, about the shooting incident. Mrs Myers is also said to have shown friends photographs taken by her son during the trip.
‘Barbara showed them pictures and video footage Chris had taken in Kabul,’ said a source. ‘They apparently showed Chris and William coming off the Chinook helicopter with George Osborne in the background. In every photo, Chris was always by William’s side.
‘Barbara was telling everyone that William had taken Chris to Afghanistan and how Chris had been texting her to say that when they were in the Chinook someone had taken pot-shots at them.’
Mr Myers also joined Mr Hague on at least two trips to Belfast, once during last year’s European elections and, more recently, shortly before the General Election. The trips were financed by Conservative donors.
Friends of the Myers family said Mr Hague would drive his car up to the
Myerses’ North Yorkshire home, get out of the driver’s door, walk around the front of the car and get into the passenger seat to make room for his chauffeur.
‘I was told William would draw his car up and go round to the passenger side and then Chris would come and get in the driver’s seat,’ said one source.
‘Apparently, Mrs Myers would come out and give William two smackers [kisses]. Some people thought it was a bit cheeky.’
The Foreign Office defended Mr Hague over the trips with Mr Myers, claiming there was nothing improper about them.
An official said they were an ideal way for Mr Myers to prepare to join the Foreign Office, adding: ‘If you want to learn about foreign relations, then going on these trips is an excellent way to do so. Nor was it uncommon for special advisers to work for no pay when they first entered politics.
‘People who are passionate about politics are often prepared to work for nothing at the start,’ said the official.
Asked if Mr Hague had bought expensive gifts for Mr Myers, the official said: ‘Not to my knowledge.’
Education Secretary Michael Gove strongly defended Mr Hague today.
'William is an outstanding Foreign Secretary, one of the most gifted politicians of our time,' he told the BBC.
'I feel admiration for the dignity with which he has always handled himself. There have been all sorts of attempts in the past to throw stuff at him, not least when he was leader. William is a real asset to frontline politics. We lucky to have him in public service.'
In hiding from wild women of Oxford
An invitation to an end-of-term party thrown by William Hague in his Oxford University days featured the cartoon shown here, of a cowboy singing the country and western song Cigarettes, Whisky And Wild, Wild Women.
But when the wild women turn up half-naked, the chap flees in terror.
A student friend, Damian Thompson, yesterday described how Mr Hague behaved just like the cowboy on the birthday invitation and ran away from one or two wild women at Oxford, though with good reason.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/04/article-1309127-00C8DEA500000190-809_468x315.jpg Old school: William Hague, pictured during his tenure as president of Oxford Students' Union
‘During the two years we overlapped at Oxford, I don’t think I heard anyone speculate that he was homosexual,’ said Mr Thompson.
‘People did notice that he never had a girlfriend. But having seen some of the horsey female undergraduates who threw themselves at him, we couldn’t blame him for running away.’
Mr Thompson recalls a girl of ‘Widdecombe-esque proportions’ pursuing the young Hague at a party, ‘calling “Where’s William?” in a voice like a huntsman’s bugle’.
Mr Thompson adds: ‘From behind me I heard those familiar South Yorkshire tones, “Oh bloody hell.” William was underneath the table, refusing to come out.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1309127/Hague-took-friend-fact-finding-taxpayer-funded-trip-Afghanistan-official-job.html#ixzz0yg4ycMJE