Facebook

Facebook faces a crackdown on selling users' secrets to advertisers

Facebook is facing a crackdown on how it exploits vast amounts of its users' most personal information to create bespoke advertising.

Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg must address privacy concerns or face fines under a new EC Directive Photo: GETTY

By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor

9:00PM GMT 26 Nov 2011

The European Commission is planning to stop the way the website "eavesdrops" on its users to gather information about their political opinions, sexuality, religious beliefs – and even their whereabouts.

Using sophisticated software, the firm harvests information from people's activities on the social networking site – whatever their individual privacy settings – and make it available to advertisers.

However, following concerns over the privacy implications of the practice, a new EC Directive, to be introduced in January, will ban such targeted advertising unless users specifically allow it.

Even though most of the information it harvests is stored on computers in the USA, if Facebook fails to comply with the new legislation it could face legal action or a massive fine.

The move threatens to damage Facebook's plans to float on the Wall Street stock exchange next year, by undermining the way it makes money.

Viviane Reding, the vice president of European Commission, said the Directive would amend current European data protection laws in the light of technological advances and ensure consistency in how offending firms are dealt with across the EU.

"I call on service providers – especially social media sites – to be more transparent about how they operate. Users must know what data is collected and further processed (and) for what purposes.

"Consumers in Europe should see their data strongly protected, regardless of the EU country they live in and regardless of the country in which companies which process their personal data are established."

The move comes as a Sunday Telegraph investigation highlights the extent to which Facebook can help companies to focus adverts according to the profiles of users.

The information analysed and stored by the company is not limited to users' personal details, and "likes" that they input on their "walls".

The firm also gathers details about their friends, family and educational background and detects subtle changes to their lifestyle, enabling it, for example, to target a bride-to-be with advertising for wedding photographers.

Other commercially valuable information, such as what music people are listening to via the site, is also available to advertisers.

Everything people share with their friends on Facebook is being tracked by the firm, retained, and can be used for commercial purposes.

It can even harvest information by performing keyword searches on behalf of advertisers. In this way, it can find out, for instance, details about people's political beliefs or their sexual preferences.

Facebook stores messages and "chats" sent via the site and keeps them on its database even after they are deleted by those involved in the private online conversations.

The company says it does not use this informatin for advertising.

The sheer volume of personal data accumulated by the company was hinted at earlier this year when a 24-year-old Austrian student, Max Schrems, asked it what information it held on him.

The request led to the site sending him a CD containing 1,222 pages of data. He complained to data watchdogs because the disclosures were incomplete and made clear the social networking site retained further information about him which it had not handed over.

Next week, the EU's data protection working party, which includes the UK Information Commissioner, will meet to discuss the "state of play" regarding Facebook.

They will discuss an audit of the company's working practices being conducted by the data protection watchdog in Ireland, where Facebook has its international headquarters.

The working group has warned internet firms over the use of behavioural advertising techniques which enable them "to track individuals ... to serve tailored advertising."

A report from the group says in most cases, "individuals are simply unaware that this is happening" and adds that the authors were "deeply concerned about the privacy and data protection implications of this increasingly widespread practice."

All Facebook's 800 million users, whether they realise it or not, agree to let the company use of their personal information.

When signing up, they approve a 4,000 word contract, which licenses Facebook to use their data as it sees fit. This contract can be viewed by clicking on a link in the small print at the foot of each page on the site.

Unlike other traditional media outlets, including newspapers, the website makes no distinction between information obtained for commercial purposes and details gathered in the course of its other activities, as people share content and talk online with their friends.

In the past, Facebook was largely funded through a banner advertising contract with Microsoft. But the gradual increase in advertising on the site, which started in 2009, is intended to make Facebook self-sufficient and ready for a stock market flotation.

In Britain, the gradual introduction of more targeted advertising has earned it £25 million in the last two years but this figure is expected to increase dramatically as it prepares to float its shares on Wall Street.

A spokesman for the UK Information Commissioner said: "Facebook should ensure that any data it collects should be used in the manner that its users expect.

"If personal data is being passed on to a third party or used for targeted advertising then this should be made clear to the user when they sign up to the site and reinforced when users are invited to use an application."

Facebook last night said advertisers only saw "anonymous and aggregate information" to allow them to target their campaigns and that this meant they were not able to target named individual users.

So while advertisers cannot say they want their adverts to go to specific individuals, they can spell out a very detailed description of the sort of person they want to reach – such as age, location, family background – which means the campaigns will only target a limited group of people.

They said that people's political views could only be passed on to advertisers if the user filled out a specific section on their profiles.

Advertising was also "age-gated", it said, so companies wanting to advertise alcohol would not be shown to people under the age of 18 in the UK.

A spokesman for the company said: "We understand that people share a lot of information on Facebook and we take this very seriously.

"We believe ads that are relevant, social and personalised based on your real interests are better.

"We can show relevant ads in a way that respects individual privacy because our system only provides advertisers with anonymous and aggregate information for the purpose of targeting ads.

"We do not share people's names with an advertiser without a person's explicit consent and we never sell personal information to third parties.

"There is no connection between the privacy settings people choose and our advertising. Whether you use your privacy settings to keep your profile very private, or very public, everyone sees the same amount of advertising down the right hand side of the page.

"Adverts are personalised to the individual user. We do not track peoples' behaviour to serve advertising."

Liam Fox and Adam Werritty

Liam Fox's adviser Adam Werritty facing questions over 'missing' £60,000.

Liam Fox's best man Adam Werritty has been ordered to repay £60,000 given to him to cover the debts of the former defence secretary's controversial charity.

Liam Fox and Adam Werritty Photo: PA

By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor

9:00PM GMT 12 Nov 2011

He is being threatened with legal action by multi-millionaire Tory Party donor, Michael Hintze, a long time supporter of Dr Fox, who gave him the cash.

The money was handed over weeks before the organisation was formally wound up after an investigation ruled it was breaking charity law and Mr Hintze now wants to know what happened to his money, which is described as "unaccounted for".

The charity, Atlantic Bridge, set up and chaired by Dr Fox, and run by trustees including Defence Minister Lord Astor of Hever, was shut down in September after the Charity Commission questioned its "independence from party politics".

Now details of the "missing" money are set to reignite the scandal surrounding Dr Fox who was forced to resign last month over his relationship with Mr Werritty.

A Cabinet Office inquiry found Dr Fox guilty of breaching the ministerial code after it emerged Mr Werrity was claiming to be Dr Fox's adviser and had set up a number of unofficial lobbying meetings with businessmen for the then defence secretary.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that Mr Werritty is now facing a formal demand from lawyers representing Mr Hintze to repay the cash he requested to pay winding up costs of the charity.

Mr Werritty, Atlantic Bridge's only British employee and who was paid more than £90,000 in wages and expenses, has been warned that he could face legal action if the money is not returned.

The 33-year-old businessman is already facing a possible police investigation over how he used cash given to another organisation, Pargav, amid allegations he used it as a slush fund to pay for international travel, five star hotels and hand made suits and bar bills at a lap dancing club.

Now it can been revealed that acting as Atlantic Bridge's executive director, Mr Werritty asked Mr Hintze to donate £60,000 to the organisation last August during a period when the work of the charity, set up to foster the so-called "special relationship" between Britain and America, had been formally suspended.

He was told the money would be used to wind up the organisation.

Mr Hintze, who runs hedge fund CQS, told him he was not prepared to gift the charity the money and instead arranged for a formal commercial loan from his firm to the charity's American arm, Atlantic Bridge Inc.

The loan was arranged by Mr Werritty and an unnamed American law firm acting for the not-for-profit US organisation.

Mr Werrity is understood to have signed the loan forms and the money was wired to an account in the US.

However Amanda Bowman, Atlantic Bridge's American chief executive, claimed she knew nothing about the loan or what had become of the money.

She said: "I have no idea about any of this."

The revelation also raises new questions about how Atlantic Bridge in the UK was being run. Patrick Minford, one of Atlantic Bridge's trustees, suggested little control was kept over how the charity spent its money.

He described the defunct charity as "a very small affair", indicating that the board did not routinely take formal minutes of their meetings.

Professor Minford said: "As far as the minutes of the trustee meetings... they were just ordinary routine meetings to approve accounts and that sort of thing. They were all pretty routine. Atlantic Bridge was a very small affair.

"There wasn't anything much at all really in the way of minutes that I am aware of to be honest.

"I went along to some meetings, probably once a year, we looked at what was going on and said yes this is fine, and have we got the money for it. There was a very small budget."

A spokesman for Mr Hintze said he was seeking a formal guarantee from Mr Werritty that the money will be repaid.

Last week lawyers acting for Mr Hintze sent out letters "demanding clarification of the loan and its status".

Sources close to CQS, Mr Hintze's firm, said Atlantic Bridge's US arm had shutdown its website but was still officially registered with the US tax collection department, the Internal Revenue Service.

The source said that the letters made it "very clear" that the loan was to "Atlantic Bridge in the US" and CQS was "in correspondence with their lawyers".

But the source added that it was Adam Werritty who had directly requested the money.

At the time, the source said, CQS "assumed he had the full authority of the trustees to request the money" but "with doubts being raised about Atlantic Bridge" it has called in its lawyers to investigate.

Atlantic Bridge US law firm and Mr Werritty, who were both involved in arranging the loan have been written to and told "they will either pay back the loan under the terms it was lent or face formal legal action", the source said.

The source added that the loan was made in good faith and exactly how it was going to be paid back "remained unclear".

"The money has so far not been accounted for," the source said.

A spokesman for Mr Hintze said: "Mr Hintze was a donor to Atlantic Bridge, he made those donations in good faith.

"It was a registered charity and had a board of eminent trustees. It was never to fund Werritty's lifestyle, globe trotting or anything else."

The spokesman confirmed Mr Hintze's firm CQS had loaned the organisation money towards "winding up costs". The spokesman added: "No client money is involved."

He added: "Mr Hintze has no connection with Pargav. One of his employee's Oliver Hylton, who was an adviser on charitable matters to Mr Hintze, was a director of it.

"He was initially suspended and now has left the company."

Cyberbullies

Web bullies targeting children in their homes.

Users of social networking sites should be banned from posting comments anonymously because it encourages bullying, say child welfare experts

According to new research social networking websites are being used by children and teenagers to bully each other  Photo: ALAMY

By Patrick Sawer, Julie Henry and Jason Lewis

9:00PM GMT 12 Nov 2011

They offer instant communication and the feeling of being connected to hundreds of "friends".

But social networking websites are being used by children and teenagers to bully each other on a disturbing scale, new research has warned.

Not only are they "posting" hostile and threatening messages, some are even using the technology to send anonymous abusive messages.

A new study to be published this week will show that "cyber-bullying" has now affected a third of teenagers, with many feeling unable to tell parents or teachers about their experience.

This week charities will use a conference in London to call for social networking websites to stop bullies sending messages anonymously, saying that it is particularly damaging to children and teenagers.

The practice, known as "trolling", has been linked to self-harm among victims and even, in the most extreme cases, suicide.

They will say that new websites which make use of Facebook - by far the most popular social networking medium - are encouraging the anonymous posting by making it easy and accessible to under-18s.

The report, by charity the Diana Award, is the biggest study yet of cyber-bullying.

It questioned 1,512 young people aged 11 to 16 across England and found that 38 per cent had suffered abuse online, and that 28 per cent of victims have not told anyone about their experience.

Nearly half of youngsters feel current attempts to prevent online bullying are inadequate.

The report also found that older teenagers are at a greater risk of cyberbullying and are exposed to more aggressive forms of behaviour, such as death threats and explicit images.

The survey will be published as part of national anti-bullying week, which comes after the daughter of Meera Syal, the actress, spoke of the cyber-bullying she suffered when she was accused of "glassing" another pupil at her private school, a charge of which she was cleared.

The lack of regulation of the internet was highlighted last night as Joanna Shields, the head of Facebook in Britain, admitted she had allowed her son onto the site despite being 12, one year under its minimum age.

Last night she closed his account and said: "It was only after much discussion, agreeing to monitor my son online and knowing he was protected by privacy settings we have designed for minors, that I took the decision to allow him to use Facebook.

"However, despite this careful consideration as a family, I am by no means exempt from the rules that govern Facebook and per our policies, the profile has been removed from the site."

Miss Shields is also a trustee of the Save the Children Fund and on a fund-raising board for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, both of whom campaign against bullying.

Beatbullying, the charity endorsed by the Duchess of Cambridge and Prince William as an official recipient of money raised from their wedding, said it was particularly concerned about the growth of "trolling".

One website, Formspring, has been particularly linked to anonymous cyberbullying.

In one of the most disturbing incidents Natasha MacBryde, a 15-year-old from Bromsgrove, in the West Midlands, killed herself in February this year after repeated bullying, including being sent a number of anonymous messages on Formspring.

Her parents, Andrew and Jane MacBryde, said they believed these had played a significant role in the events leading up to her death.

Formspring allows its 25 million members to send unmoderated questions or messages to each other anonymously. Many are drawn into it through Facebook, which itself prevents anonymous messages.

The introduction can work when a Facebook user sees an invitation from a Facebook friend to ask a question. iends. With one click, them find themselves invited to join Formspring and to send invitations to their Facebook friends, creating a "viral" effect.

Victims of cyberbullying have said their tormentors used Formspring to launch vicious character assassinations and post hurtful personal comments.

One 17-year-old girl who suffered weeks of abuse said: "Because they were anonymous they thought they could get away with it. Fewer people would bully online if they had to put their names to it."

Richard Piggin, the deputy chief executive of the children's charity Beatbullying, said: "Users should not have the option of remaining anonymous on sites such as Formspring and other social networking platforms.

"Anonymity encourages people to act in a way they might well not in real life or if they were named online."

He added: "Whatever sites like Formspring say about anonymity allowing people to express themselves, it is clear that it is being used in a negative way by allowing children to hide behind it in order to abuse others.

"Other social networking sites encourage you to use your real identity, which is a positive thing. Formspring needs to make changes."

Ending anonymity is one of a series of reforms charities now want from the websites.

Very few laws govern behaviour on the internet, and it is extremely difficult for police to trace anonymous postings, as the websites which allow them are almost all registered abroad.

Charities want internet and mobile phone networks to provide stronger safeguards against bullying, including better safety features, more regulation and codes of conduct.

They are particularly concerned about how difficult bullying victims find reporting abuse to social networking sites and say that "takedown times" - the speed with which abusive messages are removed must be improved.

Professor Mary Kellett, director of the Open University's Children's Research Centre and co-author of the Diana Award's report, said: "This youth-led report demonstrates the impact that cyberbullying is having on young people's lives, the pace at which it reinvents itself and the inadequacy of current measures to contain it.

"This is no longer an acceptable situation. Politicians and childhood professionals, entrusted with the guardianship of our young people, must take note of its findings and take some bold steps to tackle the issues."

Emma Jane Cross, chief executive of Beatbullying, said: "Bullying and cyberbullying is at epidemic levels.

"Teachers, parents, Government, charities, internet service providers and police must all come together to take the necessary steps required to stop bullying in schools, the wider community and online environment, so that online takedown times are reduced and reporting mechanisms are both accessible and functional."

Formspring is headed by Ade Olonoh, a computer science graduate, who has raised around £8.5 million from a group of venture capitalists who previously made money from investments in Twitter and other internet success stories.

Asked recently in America about bullying on the site and reports that a user in the United Sates had committed suicide after being taunted, Mr Olonoh denied that Formspring lent itself to abuse and complained about the negative way the site was being portrayed.

A spokesman for Facebook said: "We are clear that there is no place for bullying or harassment on Facebook and we respond aggressively to reports of potential abuse.

"We provide our users with the tools to report abuse on every page and the option to block people from having any further contact with them.

"Reports involving bullying are prioritised, reviewed by a trained team of reviewers and removed if they violate our terms.

"Formspring is a separate company - it is not connected to Facebook and we have no partnership with them."

Met Police

Met Police spends millions of pounds on secret aircraft

The Metropolitan Police has secret spy planes capable of eavesdropping on mobile phone calls from the sky.

By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor, and Andy Blackmore

The existence of the fleet of planes - each costing at least £3 million to purchase and hundreds of thousands more to operate - has never been publicly disclosed.

The police have being using the planes since at least 1997.

The disclosure of the spending, which is not detailed in official accounts, comes as the police face 20 per cent cuts in their budget, creating fears that hundreds of support staff will lose their jobs and the number of officers reduced.

Despite the cuts the Met's secret fixed wing aircraft fleet is still flying regular sorties over London from a base at Farnborough airfield, in Hampshire.

The planes have apparently been fitted with secret surveillance equipment capable of intercepting mobile phone calls or eavesdropping on conversations.
They are understood to be similar to surveillance planes available to MI5 which have been used in anti-terrorism operations and were used to help West Midlands Police track suspects connected to a plot to kidnap and behead a British Muslim soldier.

One of the planes is a Cessna F04, which can carry up to 14 passengers or be fitted with specially integrated patrol mission packs. We have been asked not to disclose full details of the aircraft on security grounds.

The twin engine craft are operated separately from the Met's Air Support Unit which has three helicopters and flies hundreds of hours a month in support of police operations around the capital at a cost of £3 million a year.

Last week a Metropolitan Police spokesman refused to discuss its use of the fixed wing aircraft but insisted it has gone through a "full" procurement process.

However members of the Metropolitan Police Authority, which scrutinises the force's spending said they had never been told of the existence of the aircraft.

According to Civil Aviation Authority records, the aircraft is registered to a firm called Nor Leasing.

There is no trace of the firm on any other official record and its business address registered with the CAA is actually a branch of Mail Boxes Etc, which offers a virtual office services and mail forwarding, in Surbiton, south-west London.

Another Cessna was also previously registered to Nor Leasing at the same address and at another service address in Kensington, west London.

In 1997 one of the original individuals listed as "trading as" Nor Leasing was John Carnt who at the time was a senior Metropolitan Police detective.

Superintendent Carnt was the then head of the Serious and Economic Crime Group, which was set up to combat major fraud, money laundering and art and antiques thefts.

The pattern of hidden spending is believed to have been established by Tony Williams, a former assistant finance director at Scotland Yard, who established a secret web of companies for use in specialist undercover operations.

But Mr Williams also used the same techniques to steal millions of pounds from the force to set himself up as a bogus Scottish "laird". Williams was accused of stealing more than £4 million from Scotland Yard. He was jailed for seven years in 1995.

Metropolitan Police Authority member James Cleverly last night said he was totally unaware that the Met had any fixed wing aircraft.

Mr Cleverly, who also sits on the authority's counter terrorism and protective services committee, which examines the force's covert work, said: "This is not something that I have been made aware of or have had the opportunity to scrutinise.

"In the light of the tight financial situation we are facing and the cuts being imposed on the police service it is imperative that we examine any assets that could be construed as a 'luxury'.

"I would expect full disclosure of details of this to the MPA to enable us to examine whether it represents good value for money for the police service."

Tony Blair and Kazakhstan

Oil rich dictator of Kazakhstan recruits Tony Blair to help win Nobel peace prize

The autocratic leader of oil rich Kazakhstan has recruited Tony Blair as an adviser, believing the former Prime Minister can help him win the Nobel Peace prize.

Tony Blair (R) greets the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev inside 10 Downing Street November 21, 2006 Photo: GETTY

By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor

9:00PM BST 29 Oct 2011

President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s decision to engage Mr Blair as an official adviser was motivated by his lifelong ambition of winning the award previously bestowed on The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, well-placed sources said.

The Kazakh regime, which has been heavily criticised for its human rights record, has also retained the services of Alastair Campbell, the former Downing Street communications chief and Jonathan Powell, Mr Blair’s former chief of staff, in pursuit of the President’s dream.

The move will raise further questions about the activities of Mr Blair who since stepping down as Prime Minister has travelled the world mixing diplomatic missions and charitable works with secretive multi-million pound business deals.

Mr Blair claims he is not profiting from his links with Kazakhstan and until now his role, and the work of his former key Downing Street advisers, had been a mystery.

Both Mr Campbell and Mr Powell visited Astana, the nation’s newly built business and administrative capital, last March, weeks before the 71 year-old President was re-elected with 95 per cent of the vote amid accusations of “blatant ballot-box stuffing” from international observers.

The former Prime Minister has also reportedly established an office in the country.

But highly placed sources connected to Mr Nazarbayev said that the president hoped that his association with Mr Blair would enable him to secure a nomination for the Peace Prize next year to mark his 20 years in power.

The former Soviet state’s British Ambassador said “The former British Prime Minister acts as an adviser to the Government of Kazakhstan.”

He is relying on Mr Blair and his key advisers to help him show how he is reforming his country and also to emphasise the key strategic and intelligence role his country played in the during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He hopes they will help him highlight his role encouraging the United Nations general assembly to adopt August 29 as the International Day Against Nuclear Tests and his initiative to hold two international forums of world and traditional religions in Astana to foster mutual co-operation between faiths.

But others accuse him of human rights abuses. The country sits at number 105 in Transparency International’s league table of corruption and at 162 on the Press Freedom Index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Criticising the president in person is illegal under the Kazakh criminal code and international monitors say the police routinely torture suspects.

One human rights campaigner was jailed for four years after a traffic accident that was not apparently his fault.

Another critic was discovered dead with a gun by his side. An official inquiry said he had killed himself. He apparently shot himself twice in the chest before putting a third bullet into his head.

Last month Mr Nazarbeyez signed a new religion law which bans prayer rooms in state buildings and requires all missionaries to register with authorities every year.

The new law is aimed at stamping out Islamist militancy but it has been widely criticised.

Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov said: “The former Prime Minister brings years of experience and we have benefited significantly from his strategic vision and deep understanding of the global economy as well as effective government and international policy making.

“The project is supporting the reforms the Government is making aimed at furthering democracy, strengthening the rule of law and improving the economic environment in Kazakhstan.”

President Nazarbeyev would be a controversial choice to win the Nobel Prize which is awarded annually to the person who “shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.”

His country is ranked a lowly 105th, alongside Algeria, in the Transparency International corruption index and court cases in America have detailed millions of pounds of bribes he received through a series of oil deals with US firms.

The US State Department warns visitors to the country: “Kazakhstani security personnel may at times place foreign visitors under surveillance. Hotel rooms, telephones and fax machines may be monitored, and personal possessions in hotel rooms may be searched.”

Another close associate of Mr Blair’s from his time in Downing Street, the former chairman of UK defence firm BAE Systems, Sir Richard Evans, is also thought to have played a role in establishing the relationship.

Sir Richard is now chairman of the Kazakh state holding company, Samruk which owns most of the major companies in the country, including the national rail and postal service, the state oil and gas company, the state uranium company, airline Air Astana, and numerous financial groups.

The President’s opponents have claimed in the High Court in London that he uses the fund advance his personal interests and political and economic power.

The group, which has around £50 billion worth of assets, was set up by presidential decree, and is headed by Mr Nazarbayev’s son-in-law Timur Kulibayev, who purchased Prince Andrew’s former marital home.

Last year it hired Lord Mandelson, architect of Mr Blair’s election victories, to give two speeches at its events.

At one of the conferences in Astana, in October last year, Lord Mandelson reportedly lavished praise on the Kazahk investment fund, saying: 'I want to stress a special role [it] played as a saviour of the world economy.

"There are at least two British banks which owe their economic vitality to sovereign funds, including those from Kazakhstan."

Mr Blair’s connections with the Emirate state of Abu Dhabi are also understood to have influenced Mr Nazarbeyez’s decision to seek his help.

Mr Blair is understood to be close to the Crown Prince, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, He has praised the country for the millions of pounds of help it has given to Palestinian community projects.

Sheikh Mohammed’s state investment fund, Mubadala, which has interests including oil exploration contracts in Libya and Kazakhstan, is said to have Mr Blair on its payroll.

At the same time President Nazarbayev has been building close links with the oil rich Gulf state. He is believed to have moved much of his personal wealth to banks in the country and the two nations are now linked by a regular direct flight.

The President has a close personal relationship with member of the Royal Family and there are also very close commercial ties between the two Muslim countries.

Sources in Astana say the President has given the Abu Dhabi royal family a 99-year lease on a huge hunting reserve in the south of Kazakhstan and the Arab leaders have reciprocated giving him a luxury home on an island off the Gulf coast.

President Nazarbeyev has also been a guest of honour at the Abu Dhabi grand prix.

He has already courted a number of international figures in an effort to improve his image. He has been notoriously linked to Prince Andrew, Britain’s former Special Representative on International Trade, who visited the nation six times in seven years.

The Prince is a close friend of Goga Ashkenazi, a glamourous member of Nazarbeyev’s inner circle who has a child with the president’s son-in-law Timur.

He is also said to have gone goose-hunting with the President and his former marital home at Sunninghill, Berks, was sold to another member of the regime’s elite for £15 million - £3 million more than it was worth - and then left to fall apart.

Mr Powell was due back in Astana in July and Mr Campbell last month, but both cancelled their five star hotel rooms at the last minute and it is unclear if either have returned to the country.

Former diplomat Mr Powell, who helped broker the Northern Ireland peace agreement, had, until recently, been working for Morgan Stanley, the investment bank, but has now given up his full time role to set up a charity, Inter Mediate, offering international “conflict resolution”.

The charity, which says it is seeking project funding from the Department of International Development, lists Kazakhstan as one of its areas of operation, but Mr Powell said his work for President Nazarbeyev is not part of his charitable activities.

Asked about his work for President Nazarbayev, Jonathan Powell said: “I’ve got nothing to say about that. I suggest you talk to Tony Blair’s office about that.

He said his involvement was “nothing to do with Inter Mediate” which he said “had no luck yet” in attempting to secure DFID funding.

A spokesman for Tony Blair said he was not involved with President Nazarbayev’s campaign for the Nobel Prize.

He said: “Tony Blair has helped put together a team of international advisors and consultants to set up an advisory group for the Kazakhs, with a team of people working on the ground.

“The work they are doing is excellent, sensible and supports the reforms they are making. The Kazakhs also engage with a number of other former European leaders.

“Tony Blair last visited Kazakhstan in May of this year to attend a conference. He is not personally making a profit directly or indirectly on this.”

He denied reports Mr Blair was being paid £13 million for his part in the project and that the deal had any connection to the Kazahk’s investment fund or its increased connections with Abu Dhabi.

Mr Campbell could not be contacted for comment.

Lord Astor

Second Defence Minister faces questions over links with Liam Fox’s best man

A second Conservative minister is facing scrutiny over his involvement with Adam Werritty, Liam Fox’s best man, whose activities cost the Defence Secretary his job.

Lord Astor of Hever Photo: Jeff Gilbert

By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor

9:34PM BST 22 Oct 2011

A Sunday Telegraph investigation has established there are much closer links between Mr Werritty and Lord Astor of Hever, the Under Secretary of State for Defence than had been realised.

Lord Astor was actually a trustee of the charity, Atlantic Bridge, which employed Mr Werritty and paid for him to travel the world alongside Dr Fox.

The peer, it can be revealed, is also closely connected to several of the individuals who funded the charity and with some of those who continued secretly to pay for Mr Werritty’s activities after it was wound up.

The investigation raises questions over whether Lord Astor knew how Mr Werritty was apparently presenting himself as Dr Fox’s adviser, knew who he was meeting, and knew that Mr Werritty was spending money from Pargav, the company funded by secret donors, on lavish travel and tailoring.

Last night, critics said Lord Astor had to disclose exactly what he knew about Mr Werritty. John Mann, a Labour MP, said: “It seems a second government minister, Lord Astor, has questions to answer about his involvement with Adam Werritty and what he knew about Mr Werritty’s activities.

“There is a basic lack of transparency here and the official investigation needs to be broadened to get to the bottom of what was really going on.”

Lord Astor, 65, risked being found in breach of charity law by allowing Atlantic Bridge to operate as a political organisation and failing to keep proper records of how the charity was run.

The peer, whose second wife, Lady Elizabeth, 61, recently modelled for an advertising campaign selling deodorant, is a member of a historic political dynasty and a hereditary peer who served as a Life Guards officer in Malaysia and Northern Ireland.

He was brought up at Hever Castle in Kent, which the family sold after he succeeded his father to become the third Baron Astor of Hever.

He had been a trustee of Atlantic Bridge since it was founded in 2003, but stepped down two months before the conclusion of an investigation by the Charity Commission.

As a charity, the organisation was able to avoid paying tax on its activities, and Lord Astor, as a trustee, had been legally responsible for ensuring it complied with charity rules that allowed this. But Atlantic Bridge closed after it was warned its political activities would breach charity law.

The Charity Commission said the organisation, which promoted the special relationship between Britain and America, “may lead members of the public to call into question its independence from party politics”.

It would have been ordered to close but it was dissolved shortly before the criticisms were published.

It also criticised the trustees for failing to keep proper records about how the charity was run.

Mr Werritty had been Atlantic Bridge’s only employee and it paid him more than £90,000 in wages and expenses. The chief executive of its American sister organisation, Atlantic Bridge Inc, Amanda Bowman, has claimed it “did nothing” and was a “shell game” – a confidence trick.

Lord Astor, who is the defence department’s spokesman in the House of Lords, was a trustee of the organisation for at least six years and was legally responsible for all its activities, alongside its chairman, Dr Fox, and two others, Prof Patrick Minford, an economist, and Andrew Dunlop, a lobbyist.

Lord Astor and Dr Fox resigned as trustees after the general election in May 2010.

Mr Werritty then set up Pargav, a company whose donors were promised that their identities would be kept secret.

The disclosure of his use of its money to pay for first class travel, expensive entertainment and a visit to a lap-dancing bar angered the donors.

Dr Fox was forced to quit his Cabinet post ten days ago after admitting errors of judgment in mixing his professional and personal loyalties over his involvement with Mr Werritty, and was later ruled to have breached the ministerial code of conduct by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the Cabinet Secretary.

Sir Gus’s investigation only said Mr Werritty and Lord Astor had “occasional social contact with Mr Werritty; contact as a result of their previous involvement with the Atlantic Bridge; and contact in passing when visiting Bahrain in December 2010”.

In fact Lord Astor, a regular visitor to the Gulf State, attended a security conference alongside Dr Fox during which he also met Mr Werritty.

Earlier this year, Lord Astor returned to the Gulf state, and caused controversy after comments were attributed to him that said Britain was backing the actions of the government of Bahrain when they used force to put down democracy protests leaving scores dead.

Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa, the eldest son of King Hamad, met Lord Astor last February following days of violence in the Gulf state. Lord Astor has close ties with Bahrain, a key military ally of Britain, and last year disclosed that he had attended the Gulf state’s Formula 1 Grand Prix as a guest of its royal family.

The controversy stemmed from a statement released by Bell Pottinger, the public relations firm headed by Lord Bell, who was an adviser to the former prime minister, Baroness Thatcher, who was also patron of Atlantic Bridge.

The statement, issued on behalf of Bahrain’s government, suggested Lord Astor had praised the national dialogue launched by the king.

It read: “The UK backs all initiatives taken by the kingdom’s leadership to safeguard the country from extremism and internal division, promote national unity and protect the legitimate ruling system advocated by the Bahraini people.”

Within hours British officials said this was an inaccurate representation of the conversation and sought a clarification from Bahrain.

Last night, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Lord Astor emphasised the UK’s firm support for the Bahraini government’s peaceful management of the protests at this time and our readiness to help his Royal Highness the Crown Prince to start a national dialogue, including by encouraging all groups to participate.” At the time, Lord Bell denied his agency was at fault. He said: “We don’t create the messages. We don’t create the policies. We communicate them.”

Lord Bell also represents the hedge fund boss Michael Hintze, who has given more than £1 million in donations to the Conservative Party and was the main backer of Atlantic Bridge, giving around £104,000.

It can also be disclosed that Lord Astor is a friend of another of those who funded Mr Werritty’s activities since the closure of Atlantic Bridge.

Stephen Crouch, a businessman who runs the Iraq Research Group (IRG), paid Mr Werritty £20,000 to act as a consultant.

Mr Werritty is understood to have provided introductions for IRG, which is involved in setting up contracts between the Iraqi government and British businesses. He is believed to have introduced clients with expertise in the energy business. IRG has no involvement with defence contracts.

Mr Werritty and Mr Crouch, a former Tory party constituency chairman, are members of The Carlton Club, a Conservative social club. They are said to have met each other socially around two years ago, but only began a business relationship this year.

Last week, Mr Crouch was understood to be out of the country and was not available for comment.

Last night, a Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “Lord Astor was involved with Atlantic Bridge and met Adam Werritty though his work with that organisation.

“When Lord Astor became a Government minister he removed himself from Atlantic Bridge as it wasn’t appropriate for him to continue.”

A spokesman for The Charity Commission said that after a review by Atlantic Bridge and a meeting with the commission, the trustees of the charity said they intended to wind-up the organisation.