http://www.thisislondon.com/dynamic/news/story.html?in_review_id=291787&in_review_text_id=236766
Clinton 'seeks British home'
by Stewart Payne
President Clinton is planning to set up a second home in Britain when he leaves the White House, according to security sources.
The Evening Standard has discovered the US leader is looking at houses in the Oxfordshire countryside and British Special Branch officers are preparing feasibility reports on a number of properties.
Mr Clinton hopes to become a visiting professor attached to Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar in the Sixties.
This would involve him spending many months of the year in the UK although he would keep homes in New York and Arkansas. His wife, Hillary, will not accompany him. Because of the considerable security implications he has asked the British government for assistance in assessing the risks. Tony Blair is understood to be supporting the move.
The Standard has been told that Mr Clinton is house-hunting in the picturesque village of Glympton, 12 miles north of Oxford. He has been invited to look in the area by long-serving Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who in 1992 bought the Glympton Estate which includes 21 properties.
It is understood one of these would be made available to the President on a three-year lease. The estate is heavily fortified and Glympton House, renovated and used by Prince Bandar, has been designed to withstand bombs, has bullet-proof glass and ramps in the driveway to frustrate car bombers.
Mr Clinton leaves the White House in seven months and his plans are said to include embarking on the lecture circuit, a career successfully pursued by predecessors Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
The Standard has been told he would like to make Oxford University his base. He has spoken fondly of his time at Oxford and the countryside around it and his close friendship with Mr Blair makes the move all the more likely.
Well-placed sources have told the Standard that Thames Valley Special Branch officers have been detailed to examine the security implications. The President would bring his own security officers but they would need to liaise with local police, MI5 and the British government.
Mrs Clinton will stay in the US to pursue a political career in the Senate. It is widely believed the couple are virtually estranged following the scandal of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and other allegations.
The couple are expected to lead separate lives when his presidency ends and a move to the UK would mean he would not overshadow his wife's political ambitions, although they have denied they plan to divorce.
Not unsurprisingly in the circumstances, there was an instant denial in Washington last night despite evidence to the contrary.
Deputy White House press secretary Jake Siewert said: "I put this directly to the President. He said quote: 'It's nonsense - a fabrication'. There has been no mention of illary", the Standard was told.
Mr Clinton would require a very high level of security and there is an issue over whether his own bodyguards could be armed.
The feasibility study will examine the suitability of a number of properties and officers will look at how well they can be protected, the proximity of neighbours, whether roads can be sealed off, whether helicopters can land nearby and the closeness of hospitals. No decisions have yet been made".
Glympton is the obvious choice. Situated off the main A44 near Woodstock, the Glympton Estate is already subjected to intense security because the main Glympton Park house is the UK residence of Prince Bandar, a nephew of King Fahd.
A spokeswoman for Oxford University could not confirm Mr Clinton will become a visiting professor but said: "It is a logical extension of his expressed interest."
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Seems like a great deal for us (the U.S.)..., but Clinton and Blair together..., I have to feel kind'a sorry for the Brits!
Clinton 'seeks British home'
by Stewart Payne
President Clinton is planning to set up a second home in Britain when he leaves the White House, according to security sources.
The Evening Standard has discovered the US leader is looking at houses in the Oxfordshire countryside and British Special Branch officers are preparing feasibility reports on a number of properties.
Mr Clinton hopes to become a visiting professor attached to Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar in the Sixties.
This would involve him spending many months of the year in the UK although he would keep homes in New York and Arkansas. His wife, Hillary, will not accompany him. Because of the considerable security implications he has asked the British government for assistance in assessing the risks. Tony Blair is understood to be supporting the move.
The Standard has been told that Mr Clinton is house-hunting in the picturesque village of Glympton, 12 miles north of Oxford. He has been invited to look in the area by long-serving Saudi Arabian ambassador to Washington, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, who in 1992 bought the Glympton Estate which includes 21 properties.
It is understood one of these would be made available to the President on a three-year lease. The estate is heavily fortified and Glympton House, renovated and used by Prince Bandar, has been designed to withstand bombs, has bullet-proof glass and ramps in the driveway to frustrate car bombers.
Mr Clinton leaves the White House in seven months and his plans are said to include embarking on the lecture circuit, a career successfully pursued by predecessors Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
The Standard has been told he would like to make Oxford University his base. He has spoken fondly of his time at Oxford and the countryside around it and his close friendship with Mr Blair makes the move all the more likely.
Well-placed sources have told the Standard that Thames Valley Special Branch officers have been detailed to examine the security implications. The President would bring his own security officers but they would need to liaise with local police, MI5 and the British government.
Mrs Clinton will stay in the US to pursue a political career in the Senate. It is widely believed the couple are virtually estranged following the scandal of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky and other allegations.
The couple are expected to lead separate lives when his presidency ends and a move to the UK would mean he would not overshadow his wife's political ambitions, although they have denied they plan to divorce.
Not unsurprisingly in the circumstances, there was an instant denial in Washington last night despite evidence to the contrary.
Deputy White House press secretary Jake Siewert said: "I put this directly to the President. He said quote: 'It's nonsense - a fabrication'. There has been no mention of illary", the Standard was told.
Mr Clinton would require a very high level of security and there is an issue over whether his own bodyguards could be armed.
The feasibility study will examine the suitability of a number of properties and officers will look at how well they can be protected, the proximity of neighbours, whether roads can be sealed off, whether helicopters can land nearby and the closeness of hospitals. No decisions have yet been made".
Glympton is the obvious choice. Situated off the main A44 near Woodstock, the Glympton Estate is already subjected to intense security because the main Glympton Park house is the UK residence of Prince Bandar, a nephew of King Fahd.
A spokeswoman for Oxford University could not confirm Mr Clinton will become a visiting professor but said: "It is a logical extension of his expressed interest."
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Seems like a great deal for us (the U.S.)..., but Clinton and Blair together..., I have to feel kind'a sorry for the Brits!
