Neil Heywood a Spy? Old Harrovian 'passed information on Chinese power couple to MI6'

The mystery of the Old Harrovian murdered in China took an intriguing twist last night when MPs demanded to know if he was a spy.

They called on Foreign Secretary William Hague to come clean about whether Neil Heywood tipped off MI6 about his secretive activities as an adviser to a disgraced Chinese power broker.

The Daily Mail has been told that Mr Heywood passed information to MI6 as an ‘agent of influence’, though officials insist he was not on the Secret Intelligence Service payroll.

The Chinese authorities are investigating whether Mr Heywood, 41, was poisoned with cyanide last November after falling out with Bo Xilai, who was ousted as the Communist boss of the city of Chongqing.

Officials in China told the Mail Mr Heywood died after helping Mr Bo and his wife Gu Kailai, with whom the Briton is alleged to have had an affair, funnel £1billion of Chinese state assets into foreign bank accounts.

Mrs Gu is suspected of murdering the British businessman after he demanded a larger cut of the cash and threatened to expose the money trail.

Mr Heywood also worked with the secretive Mayfair business intelligence firm Hakluyt, which was founded by two retired M16 officers and also employs a number of former MI6 officers. Read More