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tn I : (Mount Clipping in Space Below} a) eee From Mr Anthony Nutting As one of the Tory Ministers whose evidence is quoted in the Sunday Times Insight team's book “ Philby, the Spy Wha Betrayed A Generation,’ wnay I be permitted to correct an error of some importance. On page 240 of the book a statement is attributed to mc, albeit anony- mously, that “Philby appeared to be still a member of SIS" after 1951, despite the assertions to the contrary by Mr Macmillan and Mr Heath. What Lin fact told the Insight team was that the Foreign Office suspected all atona that Philby was the Third Man who tipped om Maclean that he was about to be interrogated, but that SIS out of loyalty ‘to their own employee protested his innocence, As to whether Philby had been dismissed cr asked to resign, of kept on ice, 1 simply could not remember. Indeed, as my tnterlocutors will recall, I emphasised that, while [ knew quite a Jot avaut the Burgess and Maclean story, I knew little about Philby, wha had not circulation haan in ocen in during my time as a Minister in - the Foreign Office. T have now checked the record and I am completely satisfied that Philby was asked to resizn from SIS and did se in 1951, as Was subsequently stated in Parliament by Mr Macmillan and Mr Heath. I think it is important to get these facts straight, partly because this misunderstanding has wronzly cast doubt on the statemenis of responsible min- isters, and partly because, in an otherwise brilliart book, the authors have been jad—or mis- led—into trying ta prave too much, and in particular to prove that Philby was an active traitor for thirty years. That he had treasonable desires for this length of time is undeniable. But to sugrest that he was in S1S, and there- fore in a position to betray his country, for all of 30 years is untrue, ‘does not help the reader to form a balanced judgment and is liable to inflict unnecessary damage on the national interest. In seeking lo prove their 30 years charge, the authors claim that there is “little doubt that Philby heeame a member of SIS as carly as 1937 when he was covering the Spanish re \ Undicate page, name of hewapaper, city and sicte.) i —_ Y ' + ww i. doe "tL Pie sae — DELETED Copy scwy Ac. Grows . Peter aah P ker PA ao se Civil War as a Times corres. pondent. The evidence adduced for .this is the belief of an American newspaperman and a report that Philly was ance seen talking to two men who . a Germiun agent told a Spanish Press officer were, in his. opinion, British agents! to Even if the German was right ~ about the two men,.are we to assume that they only ever spoke to their fellow agents? - In fact, Philby did not join SIS until 1940, resigned in 1951 and was reinstated in 1955 as a parttime field agent after he had becn “cleared” by a4 statement wring from Mr Macmillan in a Parliamentary : debate for lack of conerete ' evidence of his treachery. |" Scarcely 30 years of service to the Russian KGB. Date: Jf }t ro Nobody ean deny that the Edition: Philby story is a thoroughly bad Author: story: but there is neither Editor: sense nor benefit to this country 4 yon i in making it out to be worse Title; He. welts AG . than it is. Besides, there can P be few who would disagree with - Arta i PA. the remerk in John Le Carre's et eo ae admirable introduction, “We- Character; E fvp ~ shall never, I hope, create a or’ society that is proof against his Poop fe ok eg kind .., Philby is the price we Classification: 6 > Fe pay for being moderaicly free.” ~ Submitting Off1 : ‘ Indeed, it can be argued that aeaaiaatid cer ly. cot te sacrifice our moderate free- dom would not render us proof against another Philby and that the more rigorous and repres- sive the police state the more likely are its servants to defect. Certainly this is sug- gested by the larce number of senior Russian intelligence and subversion agents who have defected or passed vital infor- (CD Being investigated st — ———- . +. fas ' 7 i ne : . Tre Pape tras = Po ‘i aoe, haere se tee ate we # . - ; ; tots = Byte € oe ers” Tes a we ‘ mgs ct a ote "eae Fa ‘> Aa a or, Ga ee Se ene TE ST ea Mae me