Legal firm that employs Nick Clegg's wife advised Gaddafi regime

Nick Clegg's wife was embroiled in controversy today after it emerged that her firm advised the Libyan government.

A source told the Standard that a team of lobbyists with her company gave behind the scenes advice to Libya during negotiations with the European Union. But DLA Piper denied that Miriam Gonzalez Durantez had ever worked on its Libyan account.

The Libyans are attempting to extract tens of millions of pounds in concessions from the EU in return for halting the migration of thousands of Africans from Libya to Europe.

Human rights laws currently prevent European countries from deporting illegal immigrants and bogus asylum seekers back to the Arab country as they are routinely tortured and imprisoned by Gaddafi's regime.

The disclosure of links between her firm and the Libyan government is embarrassing for Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and the Coalition, which has strongly criticised the massacre of up to 450 Libyan pro-democracy protesters.

A senior Liberal Democrat MP said: "People in the party will privately be very unhappy about this. It's not what I would wish my partner to do."

Labour MEP Richard Howitt, who is on the foreign affairs committee of the European Parliament, said: "I am shocked and deeply worried at the suggestion Mrs Clegg's firm has been championing Libyan interests in Europe."

Libya's appalling human rights record means it is one of the few countries without a formal legal relationship with the EU.

A DLA Piper spokesman said: "DLA Piper does not comment on its client relationships. However, it is appropriate to confirm that Miriam does not act for the government of Libya.

"We can also confirm that Miriam, while working for DLA Piper, has not visited Tripoli or anywhere else in Libya, or met with Colonel Gaddafi, Saif al-Islam or any other member of Libya's government."