String of UK peers accepted free trips to authoritarian Azerbaijan

Human rights groups say endorsements by members of the House of Lords hosting events and acting as election observers risk legitimising regime

In years gone by, the two members of the House of Lords had been political enemies, running the headquarters of rival parties during hotly contested general election battles. In October, however, they stood side by side to pay their respects to the former president of Azerbaijan.

A wreath laid at Heydar Aliyev’s grave in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, bore three names: Iain McNicol, Labour’s former general secretary, Darren Mott, the former chief executive of the Conservatives, and Tahir Gözel, a prominent local businessman who had paid for the peers’ visit.