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Cambridge Five Spy Ring — Part 15

83 pages · May 09, 2026 · Broad topic: Intelligence Operations · Topic: Cambridge Five Spy Ring · 83 pages OCR'd
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* service Burgess, bf Thay Be. iiche- anecone ia Whe Foreign Office May 23 you had authorized * vesiona, QP course, it was + Foreign Office knew, that Enew as well. AL INQUIRY f these unhappy and beastly in view of public appre- cn misunderstanding, there inquiry into the administra- nt, and premotion in - the That shoild inclpde the heavy burden thag fell on of State in m times. ‘ could be made % select - some other sui body. tlsao a case for ‘examining in the light of the’ Burgess acidents and partly io be ’ security services were good. 7. not be a public inquiry, ‘eport be published. They he divulgence of the secrets counter-espionage. There - sation by a Judge or Judges ig & private report to the Both: subjects might be ‘ommittee of Privy Coun- "ing both sides of the House ‘ace that madé them speci- . these matters. But there . ary, The country would not jout an inquiry of some ‘g an adequate field, for the ght to know that adequate . 3 vaken, arising out of an as disturbing and worrying ING CONFIDENCE MME - DUNCAN (Perth hire, €.) asked what con- ' . between Burgess and Dr. - western German security _ ed to the Communisis in “ary to ensure that such a rgess and Maclean affair ‘1 again. As long as the for security at that time 1 positions, he doubted if f Britain would be main- “AN (Coventry, East, Lab.) ‘fending the Foreign Office iad put it far deeper into ‘t four years, this tissue of hs and contradictions was uld produce, then the im- “cover up" was more ated than ever. em of the Foreign Office but whether the reforms is ago had produced the sears was just about, the - inquiry into the effects . which cut the Foreign he rest of the Civil Ser- . ‘aomous and badly under- . it services of the Foreign NED SERVICES SPEIR (Hexham, C.) said » «St four years the security much maligned. It would _ Airy if there was some adequacy of -our intelli- seemed that they could uproved. _ OMNEY (Hammersmith, _ that the White Paper was rover up something within . oS in the Foreign Office, * ay from their follic¢ and _ Usjudgment and areglect, , Was an independent in- --tkings of Foreign Office irtly Services there would ~ * SON (Epsom, ©.) said ‘am the White Paper that ‘< covering up by bureau- ! ‘he feeling that the two j vlonged to the service. - 1 MACPHERSON (Stir- + ab.) supported the plea » the methods and sources the Foreign Service. Y¥ NICHOLSON (Farn- ae fid_pot knew. Borgen ‘the girl’s clothing down not hava the borcign Service for one weech. IncompatY MR. A.J. IR ‘Liverpool, Edgehill, Lab.) said that too atense a loyalty to a department and to one's colleagues had been allowed to persist up to the point at which it was incompatible with the National interest, and that could best be cured by an extension of the sources of recruitment to the department. LIEUT..COL. CORDEAUX (Notting- ham, Central, C.) said that the particular failure of the securily services about Bur- gess and Maclean was bad enough, but it could noi be considered in isolation. There should be an inquiry into the securily ser- vices; the faith of the people in them had been badly shaken. Mr. Macmillan should reconsider the decision that an inquiry was nol necessary. LIEUT.-COL. LIPTON (Brixton, Lab.) said that the two men, for reasons apart from the Official Secrets Act, had proved themselves unfiited for the Foreign Service, Did the Government have to wait for other information before getling rid of drunks or homosexuals or people who were admittedly unfitted by reason of character to have posts in a Government department? MR. DAINES (East Ham, North, Lab.) said that Lieut.-Cot, Lipton had made a charge against Mr. Philby in a question. He owed it to the House to give the sources of the information on which that charge was based. LIEUT.-COL, LIPTON, afier some other interruptions, said the siatement he had made concerning Mr. Philby on October 25, was quite a serious one, and he was convinced that in making it he was serving the public interest by forcing the Govern- ment, and in pariicular the Fore: n Secre- tary, lo provide much more information than had been provided hitherto, MR. NUTTING, Minister of Siate for Foreign Affairs (Melion, C.).— Will the hon, member be good enough to forward to the Foreign Secretary the evidence upon which he is basing his charges against Mr. Philby ? LIEUT.-COL. LIPTON .—No. (Laughter.) 1 am prepared to forward that information to a judicial member of the Privy Council who, it has been suggested, should carry Out an investigation into the operations of the secret service. When the verbal niceties of the Foreign Secretary’s speech have been examined it will be found I am justified in not making a withdrawal at the present time. : CONDUCT IN CAIRO MR. ROBENS’S CHARGES MR. ROBENS (Blyth, Lab.) said the public and many M.P.s were sure that there was a close circle of people in the Foreign Office who covered up for their friends, How else could it be that a couple of drunks, a couple of homosexuals, well known in London, could for so long have occupied imporiant posts in the Foreigs Office 7 (Cheers.) The White Paper stated, of an incident that had occurred while Maclean was in Cairo, In May, 1950, while serving at his Maijesty’s Embassy, Cairo, Macican_ was guilty of serious misconduct and suffered a form of breakdown which was altri- buted to overwork and excessive drinking. But what were the facts about this onc case ? He was nol going to talk about a fight Maclean had with -an Egyptian guard or the breaking of the leg of a colleague while on a boating trip, Maclean and a friend, both in a drunken state, had gone into the flat of a gir] who was a librarian at the United States Embassy in Cairo, The girl was absent. They had forced their way in and taken all the drink there was available. They had then pushed a lot of the lavatory, smashed a table, knocked into the bath “a heavy slab of marble fixed as a shelf over the radiator and broken the bath. . 4 “SHOCEIIC goons |. aot E LOYALTIES took vim home. Did the Whi aper reveal half of that shocking Ory cume anxictics, fears, misapprehciscos fusion there was a larger quest SAFEGUARDING LIBI POWERS OF SECU! x _ SERVICES How far the continued) are wi pursuit of great security at the « essential liderties of the British (Cheers.) Some have said that Bi. Maclean should not have bec lo escape. Under the law as to-day they could not have been from escaping unless a charge c. been preferred. No charge could | preferred, Would the House like that law Would the House agree that the |: allow any British subject to be de suspicion ? (Cries of “* No ! "). to face these questions. (Chee: there is no evidence on which am. charged would ihe House be wi people should be held indefinitel police while evidence is collecte them ? In this case detention wx been justified. But who could whether Maclean was innocent o POLITICAL OFFENCE: British justice over the centuries based on the principle that a m: be presumed innocent until he Proved guilly, Have we got to aba Principle ? Perhaps worst of all, are we io exception for political offences ? thing 1 would wish to see in thi is the security services having: t to do some of the things which our friends 3n the Press. do not realize would flow from what they (Cheers.) It may be true that if the sec vices had such powers Burgess and would not be where they are think it is true. But what wa been the consequences for British and for the rights this House hi always determined to defend ? | make one thing quile clear, I we be willing to be Prime Minister of : ment which asked those power: House. (Loud cheers.) The motion was, by leave, wit! The Expiring Laws Continuanc: read-a second time. The House adjourned at 29 min 10 o'clock. hack fo this country a “ss given six months’ jeave of absence, 007, OVer= strained, over-worked gentl .n, and he was then given a job at the Foreign Office. Disgraceful behaviour of that kind by Maclean in Cairo, Washington, and this country should have been dealt with years‘ ago. (Opposition cheers.) Ihere should «be two inquiries. One should be into the Foreign Office organizs- tion, its recruitment, and whether a closed circle existed or not, and whether covering up took place. The other inquiry should be in relation to security, SIR ANTHONY EDEN said that this had been a sad day for the Foreign Service and for this country, The reputation of the Foreign Service was part of our national tépulation, He agreed with Mr. Morrison that, whatever mistakes might or might not have been made, one thing was certain— that nobody at the Forcign Office at any ume covered up any form of disloyalty to the State. If any mistakes were made, they were not of the kind even remotely tinged with disloyalty. . The suggestion that the Foreign Service should be made part of the Civil Service was absolutcly unworkable. The memoers of the amalgamated Foreign Service under- took to accept service at home or abroad, ‘That could not be asked ot the meniocis of the Civil Service. Several members had asked why, once Maclean's behaviour in Cairo gol so bad, he was not dismissed the service. He (the Prime Minister) did not know about this bchaviour; he was not then in the Govern- ment: but it was an arguable proposition, and he would not say what he would have done had he been Foreign: Secretary at the time. It would have been an appallingly difficult decision to take. Thank Gad J did not have to judge it (he said). Ail | can say is that it is rather harsh to say that there is nothing to be said at all in favour of giving anybody a second chance. That is a doctrine about which this House should hesitate before it lays it down. DISAGREEABLE MEASURES I was interested to watch the mood of the House as the Foreign Secretary was describing the new measures—positive “vetting, as it is called. Personally. 1 think it is right, and I think it is inevitable, but I do not pretend that I like it very much. I really do not—this going along lo the tutor of someone and saying. “ What did you really think of so-and-so when he was in your college 7°" and so on, It is teally disagreeable to the ordinary British instinet, bur I think we just had to do that much. This I think is the minimum we had lo do, and also the maximum we can do within the existing law. Therefore L think — we have acted rightly, in the spirit of what’ the House would wish. + . There waS no reason to suppose there! ’ was any connexion between the departure? og . of. Burgess’ and the defection of Owto-John + ; Sem OS to the east. “ J PARLIAMENTARY NOTI HOUSE OF LORDS To-pay, ar 2.30 Aliens’ Employment Bill, report, Motion by the Earl of Swinton callinz the organization of the Service departme: fighting services. HOUSE OF COMMONS | A He could not explain in deiail how the nego ttt on tak security services had followed and dis-,% oN ae covered Maclean’s activities. That was7 ™. aad r Te H - ee ’ t* something that had been concealed from oy Os at a the House, and must be concealed for good Ee ie Ba ae reasons, That the investigation had covered beg pag here og ah 6.000 people and had been narrowed down to one indicated the care and efficiency WithB ve it we. othe gee which it was pursued. It also indicated th : es afk oti: continuing information on which it resicd ree wa More than that he was not prepared to say Tele : - Ik was agreed that every justifiable pref 47 ee aie caution should be taken to ensure that”. +2 °.°: every man and woman in the public service did not work against the security of the State. He therefore proposed to the Leader of the Opposition that a small informal conference of Privy Councillors from both }. sides of the House should be convened to examine together the security procedures which were now applied in the public ser- vices, and also to consider whether within the law any further precaution could pro- peily be taken to reduce the risk of trea- |, «Nee ee chery such as had been discussed by the | Pant ata e atx, ea ee eA Ia Peon ee m
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