A touching recollection in the Telegraph today by the splendid nonagenarian, Bill Deedes. He reflects on his sister who died last week, and who spent her entire career working for the MI5. Recalling an incident which took place about 50 years ago, he writes:
“There was a day in the 1950s when I was a junior minister in the Home Office, and we were called on to decide whether or not to admit a certain individual to this country.
I was advised to consult MI5. The voice that responded to our telephone call was my sister’s. We never subsequently talked about even this minor coincidence. She belonged to an age in which the confidential business of the state remained confidential.”
Values of a long-gone age.
January 26th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
A world away from Stella Rimington, then?
Politicians are one thing, but MI5 people publishing memoirs?
Still, nothing, but nothing, beats David Blunkett, a former Home Secretary, publishing his memoirs while his Government was still in office.
Shabby, all round.
January 26th, 2007 at 5:35 pm
Confidential in the sense of known only to Whitehall and the KGB. This was the Roger Hollis era.
January 27th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Hard to judge where loyalties are now, with email, the internet, you tube, large mortgages… the temptations are enormous.
January 27th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
Yes, but the temptations were there all those years ago, yet good men and women of honour managed to resist them.
Times have changed.
January 27th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Bel, may I refer you to the following books-
Spycatcher- Peter Wright
The Fifth Man- Roland Perry
Their Trade is Treachery- Chapman Pincher
The realities of our security services in the 50s/60s makes for uncomfortable reading…
January 27th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
Hi Joe, thank you. I’ve read the first two, although I could do with revisiting The Fifth Man.
As for the third book, I’m adding it to my reading list.
Thank you!
January 27th, 2007 at 8:19 pm
So, do you think it was Rothschchild?
More interestingly, were there any more prestigious Russian agents- at the highest level, perhaps…?