British diplomats expressed concern at the activities of the foreign secretary, William Hague, and the controversial Tory donor, Lord Ashcroft, during overseas trips the two men took together before the last general election.
According to Foreign Office documents, seen by the Observer, one envoy raised fears that the pair were in danger of breaking diplomatic protocol in their efforts to meet foreign officials, while another suggested that the peer might be "sniffing out" business opportunities. An official even raised the possibility that a visit to Cuba in March last year might have violated EU directives.
The Observer applied under the Freedom of Information Act for documents relating to official opposition trips where Hague was flown by Ashcroft's Flying Lion company. Hague was accompanied by Ashcroft to more than 20 countries.
The disclosures will raise new questions about the foreign secretary's judgment. Labour MPs have accused Hague of giving Ashcroft privileged access to dozens of foreign government ministers while on official visits.
The relationship between Hague and Ashcroft is very close. Ashcroft was the Conservative party's main financial backer during Hague's four years as leader from 1997 to 2001, and he was nominated by Hague for his peerage.
One of the documents the Observer has obtained reveals that Hague tried to get Ashcroft into his first official meeting with US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, but decided against it after being warned that such a move could upset diplomatic rules. During the same trip, the then shadow foreign secretary introduced the Florida-based peer to two US generals, the head of the World Bank and two former US presidential candidates.
Other documents will cause embarrassment because they show that Hague was criticised by two senior British diplomats who now work with him:
■ Dianna Melrose, Britain's ambassador in Havana, believed that Hague and Ashcroft met Cuba's foreign affairs minister, Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, by "muscling in" on an official meeting conducted by his Panamanian counterpart.
■ She expressed surprise at how the pair arrived unannounced on the Caribbean island. The document confirms reports that she suspected Ashcroft was there to "sniff out" business opportunities.
■ Another British diplomat based in Cuba questioned why Hague had broken EU ministerial protocol by meeting Cuban ministers without organising a corresponding introduction with a dissident or human rights group.
Hague visited Washington in October last year to meet key members of the new Obama administration. Ashcroft helped fund the trip and accompanied Hague. One memo shows that an unnamed British diplomat wrote to a senior Hague aide before the meeting with Clinton.
"[Hillary] Clinton will be accompanied by a senior foreign policy adviser, so Mr Hague may wish to be accompanied by yourself as his senior advisor, or the ambassador," the official in the British embassy in Washington wrote.
"Alternatively, we could ask that Lord Ashcroft accompany Mr Hague, but given Lord Ashcroft's senior position in the Conservative Party, he may appear to be more a second principal than a +1. There is a risk that Secretary Clinton would decline to see Lord Ashcroft [on protocol grounds]."
Hague did not take Ashcroft to meet Clinton, but did take him to five other meetings with senior US officials. Ashcroft met Lt General John Paxton, the then director of operations in Iraq, national security advisor General Jim Jones, Senator John McCain, Robert Zoellick, president of the World Bank, and Senator John Kerry.
Lord Ashcroft's spokesman has previously denied that the peer has any business interests in Cuba and said that Dianna Melrose's assessment was wrong. Hague has declined to say whether he thought that Ashcroft was pursuing business opportunities on the island.
One British diplomat was concerned that Hague had failed to take on board an EU directive which dictates official visits by politicians to Cuba should only take place if they are allowed to meet dissidents. As a result of this policy, no British minister has visited Cuba for more than five years.
Caitlin Jones, the deputy head of the mission in Havana, wrote to a colleague: "Did you know these two [Hague and Ashcroft] were coming to Havana? We found out that they are here today ... We're assuming you didn't know because you would have sensitised them to the "seeing the opposition" issue (and told us about it!!)."
The day after returning from Havana, Hague released a statement calling for the US to lift the Cuban blockade and defended his decision to meet ministers without meeting dissidents. More recently, he has said he will not break the EU directive now he is in office.
