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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
|---|---|
| MP Mike Hancock denies assistant is Russian spy | MP Mike Hancock denies assistant is Russian spy |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| A Russian working as a parliamentary aide to a British MP has been taken into custody to face deportation proceedings amid claims she is a spy. | A Russian working as a parliamentary aide to a British MP has been taken into custody to face deportation proceedings amid claims she is a spy. |
| According to the Sunday Times, Katia Zatuliveter, 24, was arrested on the orders of MI5 over espionage claims. | According to the Sunday Times, Katia Zatuliveter, 24, was arrested on the orders of MI5 over espionage claims. |
| She has been working for Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock, who said she had done nothing wrong and would appeal. | She has been working for Lib Dem MP Mike Hancock, who said she had done nothing wrong and would appeal. |
| The Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases, nor would it confirm deportation moves. | The Home Office said it did not routinely comment on individual cases, nor would it confirm deportation moves. |
| But a security source is said to have told the Sunday Times that Ms Zatuliveter's presence was not "conducive to national security", and the intention was to "show her the door". | But a security source is said to have told the Sunday Times that Ms Zatuliveter's presence was not "conducive to national security", and the intention was to "show her the door". |
| It is believed to be the first time since the end of the Cold War that someone working in Parliament has been accused of spying for the Russians, suggests the Sunday Times. | It is believed to be the first time since the end of the Cold War that someone working in Parliament has been accused of spying for the Russians, suggests the Sunday Times. |
| In an interview with the BBC, Mr Hancock said he was standing by Ms Zatuliveter. He said he had spoken to her on Sunday morning and she told him she had not seen any evidence against her. | In an interview with the BBC, Mr Hancock said he was standing by Ms Zatuliveter. He said he had spoken to her on Sunday morning and she told him she had not seen any evidence against her. |
| "Nobody has shown me any evidence to support the view that she is any way a threat to the UK," he said. "If she was a threat, when they stopped her in August, they could have removed her then." | "Nobody has shown me any evidence to support the view that she is any way a threat to the UK," he said. "If she was a threat, when they stopped her in August, they could have removed her then." |
| Mr Hancock said she had been arrested at 0700 GMT on Thursday and was subject to a deportation order. | Mr Hancock said she had been arrested at 0700 GMT on Thursday and was subject to a deportation order. |
| "She was asked to pack a bag, get ready and she was taken away and held in a detention centre in London, and then transferred to another detention centre where she is putting her appeal together," he said. | "She was asked to pack a bag, get ready and she was taken away and held in a detention centre in London, and then transferred to another detention centre where she is putting her appeal together," he said. |
| Mr Hancock is MP for Portsmouth South, a city which has a large naval base. He also sits on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. | Mr Hancock is MP for Portsmouth South, a city which has a large naval base. He also sits on the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. |
| Despite acknowledging that he has asked for information on the location of nuclear submarines and has probably asked more defence questions than any other MP, he said his work was not "top secret". | Despite acknowledging that he has asked for information on the location of nuclear submarines and has probably asked more defence questions than any other MP, he said his work was not "top secret". |
| "What on earth was she spying on? There is nothing she was doing for me that was in any way sensitive," he added. | "What on earth was she spying on? There is nothing she was doing for me that was in any way sensitive," he added. |
| "I have never read anything in a defence select committee paper or report which was worth anyone believing they had something they could not get from another source." | "I have never read anything in a defence select committee paper or report which was worth anyone believing they had something they could not get from another source." |
| Police interviews | Police interviews |
| The BBC's security correspondent Frank Gardner said Russian intelligence agencies had a "very low threshold" in terms of information and they would frequently "try to acquire by covert means what is out there on the internet or in open publications". | |
| "It doesn't surprise me at all if this is true but it does seem very strange that she was picked up sometime ago and that she was vetted," he said. | |
| He said maybe the UK security forces knew what she was up to all along but had been "playing her". | |
| "To me, it strikes of a little bit of incompetence that they would vet this woman and allow her to be in a position of some sensitivity," he said. | |
| Our correspondent added that the level of Russian espionage was back up to where it was in the late 80s during the Cold War, and there were up to 35 Russian intelligence officers working covertly in the UK who then employ others. | |
| BBC South political editor Peter Henley said Ms Zatuliveter was first stopped coming back to the UK from a holiday in Croatia during the summer and had been interviewed by police four or five times since. | BBC South political editor Peter Henley said Ms Zatuliveter was first stopped coming back to the UK from a holiday in Croatia during the summer and had been interviewed by police four or five times since. |
| 'Cause for concern' | |
| "After she was arrested coming back through Heathrow, she has been interviewed by the police several times," he said. "She had actually left Mike Hancock's employment but because of that situation with the police, he kept her on and kept her working. | "After she was arrested coming back through Heathrow, she has been interviewed by the police several times," he said. "She had actually left Mike Hancock's employment but because of that situation with the police, he kept her on and kept her working. |
| "But she could have gone back to the Caucasus where she lives any time." | "But she could have gone back to the Caucasus where she lives any time." |
| Ms Zatuliveter started working as an assistant to Mr Hancock in 2008, after completing a masters degree at Bradford University. She had previously been an intern at the House of Commons and had worked in Europe. | Ms Zatuliveter started working as an assistant to Mr Hancock in 2008, after completing a masters degree at Bradford University. She had previously been an intern at the House of Commons and had worked in Europe. |
| Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told Adam Boulton on Sky News it was a cause for concern. | Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith told Adam Boulton on Sky News it was a cause for concern. |
| "I would say normally this would be a joke but actually after what's been going on with some of the spies that Russia seems to have put in all sorts of places, I have to say you have to take it quite seriously," he said. | "I would say normally this would be a joke but actually after what's been going on with some of the spies that Russia seems to have put in all sorts of places, I have to say you have to take it quite seriously," he said. |
| Shadow Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper said vetting procedures for those applying to work in the Commons might have to be re-examined. | |
| She told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show: "It is important to make sure those [procedures] are strong enough and secure enough... If there do turn out to have been breaches in security, then the wider security in Parliament would need to be looked at." |