Neil Heywood did not work for UK government, Hague insists

Reports have alleged that Mr Heywood, 41, was an “agent of influence” who
passed information to MI6 but was not on its payroll. Such agents are widely
used by government intelligence agencies and can be the hardest to detect.

His relationship with Bo Xilai and his wife Gu Kailai, a powerful and wealthy
political couple, would have been of interest to anyone in the Government.

According to the Chinese authorities, that association cost Mr Heywood his
life. It named Mrs Gu as a suspect in his murder and stripped Mr Bo of all
his party positions as Mr Heyood’s death sparked China’s biggest political
scandal for decades.

A close childhood friend earlier told The Daily Telegraph of private
suspicions that Mr Heywood was a spy, while the businessman’s appearance,
always immaculately dressed and often in cream linen, did nothing to dispel
such notions.

Friends and associates said the Old Harrovian cultivated an image redolent of
Graham Greene novels or James Bond films, driving a Jaguar with the numbers
007 included on the number plate and a Union Jack bumper sticker.

He also prepared periodic reports for Hakluyt, a corporate intelligence firm
that was founded by former MI6 officers and which prides itself on
discretion. The company said he had not been working for the company at the
time of his death.

The cause of death was initially given as heart attack or alternatively
over-consumption of alcohol. His body was cremated with his family’s
approval on Nov 18.

In his letter, Mr Hague insisted that the Foreign Office had acted swiftly
once it was told by the Americans that Wang Lijun, the police chief in
Chongqing, had implicated Mrs Gu in the Briton’s death.

“We acted to seek an investigation as soon as we judged that concerns about
the circumstances of Mr Heywood’s death justified it and we are pleased that
the Chinese are now investigating,” Mr Hague said.

Mr Heywood had known Mr Bo and his wife for about ten years, and helped their
son Bo Guagua, whom he had taught English, win a place at Harrow before
studying at Oxford.

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