Nato asks Geoff Hoon to step down as policy expert

Geoff Hoon was yesterday asked to step down from his duties at Nato following his involvement in the "cash for access" scandal. Nato's secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, asked the former British Defence Secretary to withdraw from a group of 12 policy experts drafting the military alliance's new mission statement after he learnt of Mr Hoon's suspension from the Parliamentary Labour Party.

"Given that it is clear the British government no longer supports Mr Hoon... the secretary general has decided to ask Mr Hoon to end his participation in the group of 12," a Nato spokesman said.

While being secretly filmed by an undercover reporter, Mr Hoon offered to lead delegations to ministers, saying that he was looking to turn his knowledge and contacts into "something that frankly makes money"after he stepped down as an MP. He later denied offering to hand over confidential information. The former Transport Secretary Stephen Byers and former Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt were also implicated in the scandal and have been suspended from the Labour Party.