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RISK .OF BLACKMAIL Some of Is adal_ with may Be called the elation Webiecn ec ks and defecis of character and conduct. { conference recognize that to-day great importance must be paid to character defects, as factors tending to make a man unreliable +} oF expose him to blackmail or influence by ' foreign agents, They say there is « duty on- departments to inform themselves of Sesiau failings such as drunkenness, addiction to drugs, homosexuality, or any loose living that may seriously affect a man’s reliability. The White Paper continues: "There is @ | natural reluctance to make adverse reports on colleagues and nothing could be worse than to encourage tale-bearing or malicious gossip. Nevertheless, it is important - to impress not only on heads of departments but on supervisory officers generally that it { is their duty to know their staff and that th must not fail to report anything whi ee STUN vyur crsense wich sUEgESTS™ Communist associations or sympalhies andi also serious defects or failings Which might Feopardize the security of the section of the public service in their charge. Govern- Ment accept this recommendation, although | they recognize that the measures necessary to give effect to it will require very careful consideration.” COMMUNIST FAITH NORMAL LOYALTIES _ | “OVERRIDDEN” = * The conference recommended that it i should be recognized that the fact that a * fy public servant is a Communist not ‘only \z his employment on secret duties but may also in some departments have an un~ favourable effect on his prospects . of | romotion. an They also make a series of recommenda- tions which turn on the risk presented by those in regard to whom there is no evidence of Communist party membership, evidence of Communist sympathies a * close association witb party members, The conference are of the opinion that, in these difficult and often borderline cases, it is right to continue tilting the balance in favour of State security rather than individual rights. They recommend that an individual who is ; | living with a wife or husband who is a Com: | munist or a Communist sympathizer may, for that reason alone, have to be moved from secret work, and that the same Principle should be applied in other cases of a like ature. The report begins with an analysis of the eneral nature of the security 5 fecing ’ Britain. The conference point out that whereas once the main risk to be guarded against was espionage by foreign Powers carried out by professional agents, to-day the chief risks are presented by Conimunists and by other persons who for one another are subject to Communistnftuen * The Communist faith overrides a may? normal loyalties to his country and ind’? the belief that it is justifiable’ to hand “ Secret information to the Commune, or to the Communist foreign P. White Paper continues. |PREVENTIVE POLICY ; ‘of the chief ‘problems’ of security ey, says the report, is to identify the | members of the British Communist Party, | . to be informed of its activities, and to identify that wider body of those who ane sympaihetic to Communism or susceptible { to Communist pressure and present a danger H to security. : Thereafter, steps must be taken to see that secret information is not handled by any-, ‘one who, for {deological or other motives, may betray it, The Government agree with : this broad analysis and will continue to base + their policy on preventing people of thir. pature | from Fmation. . ne report deals with the public serves generally, But it is implicit in the repprt jj iat the conference recognize that in certal areas of the public service—notably in Foreign] Service, the defence field, and the tomic | Energy Authority—the need for recautibns is greater than elsewhere. The overnmpent accept this view, . RIGHT OF APPEAL APPROVAL OF 1948 . TRIBUNAL ‘The conference recognize that some of the, - measures which the State is driven to take to protect its security are In some respects alien to our traditional practices. Thus, in rder not to imperil sources of information, decisions have sometimes to be taken without revealing full details of the supporgng| idence. Again, it is sometimes necessary to re| to employ a man on secret duties, or to to employ him at all if, after the fullest investigation, doubts about his reliability remain, even although nothing may have been roved against him on standards which Prould be accepted in a court of nw ‘The conference agree regretfully that these counter-measures, although they are distaste- ful in some respects, are essen if the |: security of the Siaie is to be ensured. But they recognize that it is also important to convince public opinion that the measures taken and the procedures in force will not exercised unreasonably. For this reason the conference approve the tribunal (commonly known as the wee Advisers "") set up in 1948 to hear ppeals fom Civil servants threatened on urity grounds with transfer from secret juties or|dismissal from the servicg. This mpchinery should continue find the nferenck also recommend that (¥e terms pf reference of the "Three lvisers " should be widened, to enable them th present fuller report to the responsible Minister. having access’ to secret! ae