BLUNT FILES REOPENED OVER M15 AGENT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP96B01172R000300030032-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 14, 2007
• Sequence Number: 32
• Content Type: NSPR

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over M15 as Qye a
B 1;Y11' R:Av;
the case of Anthony Blunt, 74,
the Queen's former art adviser, stripped of his
hnihittltuu l fug- sl> int; for the Russians, have been
reopened by the security
services.
The inquiries, revealed by
Tiii St Na.4Y TEI.rc;nApu, ate
understood to centre on a.
former MIS agent. over the
role he played in the. Blunt
atlair.
The 'fourth man'
since November, 1979, when
Mrs Thatcher named "Blunt as
being the "fourth man " vc ho
helped 1Surge,.s mod Maclean to
flee Britain in 1951, the files on
his spying activities have tlzvt:;
been officially closed. 1
At the timr of "hint's ex.'
posure, secret ,;er ,ire d hit fs
vNpressed ftars titat other
K G It aF'nts might have been
ssorking inside \ll:i.
1311111t was gism~n itmnurtIty
from prosecution in 1964 when
he oas nrst conftonled about
actk ities on beu,t!l of tlte.
I-, G 13, a derision subs-gaentiy
ct;tiCisrd following other leck-
at;e; of information.
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Crime Correspondent
I~lflli Sr(rrl Srrtwe has 1973, but fit,-[-(. have been on-
$ re-opened inquiries into ';ub`tantiatecl alifl;atinn4 since
('terms surrutuldin' tilt. case that he was involved with the,
ul Anthony 1) font, the lormct Missians.
Surveyot? of the Quern's way Bh,th3 was give',
Pictures, who ssas ezpo.eetl irnnhunity has been criticised.
as a lortner Russian spy. The It is obvious that the present
inquiries are brtieved to Enquiry will go deeply into he,
centre out Oil(" man, a former itnmunity question and whether'
X115 agent, and the role }1e any o'}per agents were involved.
played in the illurit alitrir. MP5 c'oncer
Oun Poi,irtco, ConnsrowncNr
"rites: Although there was u
official cuntirtttation in W'hitnc??
halt tact night that the now
ingnit'.V was under way, it. was
hem.; villpitasised that the tiles
on iiluot and floilis remart~e':
nnrirr constant s,rutiny,
tinme t;ovrr no
cOUICes
also made clear that they it.
Iit'\rtl fit(, security services
nltght well have derided to
rrolrert Ito' cast', pattirularl - in
tit ,v of the fact that new
1'e\elatiuns about N115, And
possible Soviet penetration qt
tilt, c-rntre of the service;, were
abort to break.
'I he iati' t dicciosures will
alntu',t ci+rtdinly lead to fresh
('nc ern In Pdrlianu`nt over the
l;luttt cw'', A nuntller of MIN
have tnadtt clear that they still
fe,Ir the true t'Xlttnt of Soviet
ten'ttation has not horn
ri'v'aled, despite detailed state'
rneill, frum Mrs Thatcher.
'i'h' Prime Minister is flue
to arc^ive shortly a report
from th,? Seet)rity Ctsio tis;ian,
headed by l.hr(t iav; an ti:'
~ftrc'tic,tlrss of oo~itite vI"t?
p. neetl.n't s tullow;ng the
of f'"mires' Prime, "ho
!;!lied for 33 gears at:(,
irlnlil;ing srllin(+ secrets ft-(,Ill
he (,ntgrnm,'nt's cnrnrnuntr
the
r~?ntr'e it Cheltenham I.
tlu? itussl;lrs'?
Any fresh revelations aboe'
SI'll III:;, ft;I; tirul'irIN if it 1'
valves the security services, I
bound to increase parliamw
t,try pressure from sons, ind
penitent watchdog to ntonit
their ac'ri,yiie5.
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The Secret Sers ice hrcarne
suspiciotts of the former NIL-)
agent only rectal iv, even
lauugh Blunt. now 7?1,'.m is pub-
lick, e\po-'d in 1979---10 years
,titer Its, had h'rn mill, 'd
"lift his activities on bch,rlt of
Ow KGB.
Blunt. tsho ",IS stripped of
his sit ghthnod t- fit' (,turru
1!1(I nn" shuns r=uhl:nl~, "1111 rd
lot- nrdnv inside .,\110 and
gave fire P Isuidn'. limits of
Itril,iin*s must (-Insets'el,uded
secrets bcloic and after the
tt al'.
'Ihr lily on fit' liturtt ,ail air
and the ",It he is i. Itch
urlniunttt' Eton! ttrosrrutinn in
191)1 is b'irt (I,,rlt r \,I morn.
I fs tilt r(I ingIL I t'', tn(4udi,i
( hreking the set t Ile r("'(n d of
a former \1J,i ,(sent, air being
mode. it is thought that he
has rerrntly hren 'inl'rvir?"rd
about the Blunt ,mdair, allhough
Ihi, cannot be runfirni'-d.
Under sUSpA'eiOT f
\t'httchall
t
r
u
American
g
strategic arms treaty. Senators
Cambridge.
The e Security commission is higher as some less important were alarmed that Washington
still digging into the case er cases may have escaped men- eyes-in the-sky were ngton -
linguist Prune, the former Lion in British publications). arily useless when it came to
The United States would seem
linguist at the Government n3
oni toring Soviet missile de-
by more than two
ications Headquarters to be leadi m
Commun
on
Ministers i .t
persuade
wildlife On''
u.se of fo
planning
( LAYTOs
respundtI,
second of t
hope todo
are all
sentenced last to one. t
though interes -
(GCHQ) S
ures
h fi
on
ibl
l
f
g
,
uc
vembvr for spying for the
isleading
N
d
e
aus
p
There are a number o
.
o
m
Russians. The commission's ing, are crude an
s security and
t
St
d
explanations for the British
e
a
could well revive The United
much
rt
i
i
Prime: Harme
Geot
belief that its intelligence
.
repo
s
ne
Washington-sourced stories intelligence mach
about the threat posed to the bigger than its British equiva-
lent. And it is quality not
United States-United Kingdom
gn
signals intelligence
Americas-born spies
American-born spies
Some
apparatus is wide open to the
KGB compared to the Amen-
Positive
tablishment. P
can spy es too
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Chapman: Good augury for
manufacturing industry
given. What is important is to matte
sure that the benefits endure by
keeping hold of costs. This has not
happened when the pound has been
devalued previously.
lower exchange rate has been lost as
costs have risen to absorb that
benefit. We must now make sure
that does not happen this time
around. That will be to the benefit
of British industry recovering its?
share of markets here and overseas.
Mr Stanley Orme, Chief opposition
spokesman on industry, (Salford,
West, 1.ab): Wchhy is c r1fLaicktue riMlIg
industry Jenkins, I travel around the country
- 11 they wanted
n inquiry into the way The deNN
Minister for Industry, said during
questions.
The first stage of the reviews to
examine the working of the current
regional economic policies be made
identify ways they could
more effective, had been completed
by the departments concered. A
decision on what further work was
to be commissioned would now
I have to be made.
Mr Jack Dormond (Easingto foLab):
is the review a cover tip
another attack on regional aid?
What possible justification can there
be for the proposals in the public
expenditure White Paper to cut
regional aid and general industrial
aid by 2l per cent?
Will he give an assurance that
before any conclusions are reached
there will he consultations with
organizations and local authorities
in the regions?
Mr Lamont: We do consult local
authorities and other people
involved in the regions. No further
changes are planned in the lifetime
of the Parliament but it is perfectly
reasonable for the Government to
review regional policy and its
effectiveness about which there is a
tot of argument and controversy.
Hilary Miller (Bromgrove and
M
V,mw.r, ......, ---
they tell me the same story. Since
1979 there has been disas' Firms
have in many cases halved their
employees.
I visited lancing Bagnell last
week, a major vehicle company,
who have lost over 25,000
employees. We cannot complain
unit
about firm like that. Why are we in such a
situation?
Mr Jenkin: I visited TI Raleigh in
I
Nottingham last Friday, where found a company that is putting its
house in order, recovering its share
of the market, restoring its
productivity, and has introduced
new models and new production
methods..1 gave three hearty cheers.
egiOfai policy
unchanged -
for now
There would be no
substantial changes in
policy in the lifetime
Parliament, Mr Norman
r
Redditch, C): Under current criteria
the West Midlands would qualify
for assisted area status so he is faced
with a choice of either mciuuung ? British Airwi:
,,r reviewing assisted area policy. 4;,,,l decision
further
regional
of this
Lamont,
In that review, wawa sic
Nur aircraft for tn.
particular attention to the creation and are snll-?^
rather than the diversion of jobs, tirbus, Tvlr
which many suspect the current for Minister
-A the costf
e
v
mann," re
Die
"the worst case in United States
seemed
i
"
means of n,:.'
I111r Langan,
gcographtca`?
markets a
nuestion
meat. I ugti"
and the Tice
in t,St look N
Mr John
spokesman
l---__
Government
that Labour
West Nlidl
have in cre
more at E e i
!;40,000 a id"
Mr Lamon`
safeguardddI
often simPli,
in the PtiL
regional pot ,
part of t4"t
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Prime denied chance to appeal
BY Paul Keel
Tiff, grave offences against
national security comuutted
by Geoffrey Prune wm'ld
have merited the death
penally to times of war. Lord
Just Ice Lawton said in the
Appeal Court in London yes.
hrday.
Itefnsing the spy leave to
Iapp"al against the J.Syear
vol smdence tnlfuys'it on
inn at the Old Bailee last
Nm ember for collaborating
with the Russians for 14
years, I-trd Justice Lawton
said Ibal it property cc.
by the Soviet espionage ser-
vice it 1964. and Ihrn as a
ltiissian linguist at the Gov
ernment Communications
I leadquarlers at Cheltenham.
fiat. Lord Justice Lawton,
s5id. "he sold her, her suh-
Mr Genlrey Prime-
"sentence without hope"
the last 20 years. It would
mean that If Prime lived to
serve the sentence without re-
mission, he would be 82 years
old on his release. "It is. in
scmnlarv, a' sentence without
hope." Mr Carman said.
Prime. he recalled. had
eventually made a full and
frank confession to the police
and security authorities,
which enabled seven counts
of spying to he brought
against him. And, Mr Carman
told the court, authorities
had confirmed to him that
they have interviewed Prime
t3 times in sessions occupy.
ing :17 hours.
" And at all times Prime
has placed himself available
on to he interviewed. and
these interviews are not Yet
concluded," Mr Carman said.
In the modern world of in.
tetligenre-gathering, inform.
ation often passed through
the hands of those in come
paratively humble positions
in government service. It was
no dmltt on occasions a bru-
tat world where some
offenders would he stripped
of public hannurs while
others were offered im-
munity. Others defected, Me
carman observed.
Prime had none of these
opportunities, except perhaps
to defect. which he chose not
to do when he was under
suspicion for the sexual
.offences whose Investigation
eventually led in his dhs.
covery as a spy. Instead, by
his candour, he provided the
means for his own arrest and
prosecution.
?' It should he a legitimate
aim of any modern sentenc-
ing policy in this unpleasant
world of espionage and Irea.
chery that spies should be
hrotighttn hook but IhI they
shall have incentives to co-
operate," Mr Carman submit.
tell
The incensilive of a re.
duced sentence would apply
to relatives of spies who
might he encouraged to dis.
close information to the
police in the way that Nlrs
Rhona Prime, the spy's wife,
had done, he added.
At one point daring yester.
day's hearing. Mrs Prime,
Turn to back page, cot. 4
.levied the gmu?ral public's
'opinion of his conrhlrt.
^'('hen? are offences that
dire so grace that the only
fJ-py the Judges can demon.
attale that society will not
allies to a polen?
.frets. and
tml Ile went on' "In limes of
war. such conduct would
have mailed the death
penalty. tfowever, in peace.
hoe the law dory not pro.
side for the death
penally"
The Appeal .Judge. who sal
with Mr lusuce Michael
Davies and Sir Roger etrmrod
.for the one-day hearing. said
that in tteaeetimF;' rtgh)p-
minded members d~.ahepkh- he agreed with him that
he would
consid 'tha1+' a P
,
rime had caused incalculable
lulrrate a p""""' far kind of very tongq, -seMenre?. 'rbas harm to the interests of Sri.
mndncl is by passing 'a son. appropnale: and that',Mas tain's security,
Ienre that 1fmy reflevts the what the defendent got."~ Mr George Carman
for
QC
-
.
?abhorrenerlJtat righl?mmded tiersaid that: bM#use ihyY Prime. hag suhmtred to the
memtMis: ppf- the public, have. pffeeed maftery;,o oatf pal Appeal Court -that the total
(1ae tappp ddtendant'. coddW't.''f, -settinily. tails 4of,?Prh-gpf's se?nlence of :1R years, tnelud?
he sa~i'. , ,, offences not he reget>!Td mg three Years for three
PrigteY:'!ho admitted-igvett . 'Rut haroing: ad the etrltltwltlee counts of indecent assault on
gjs, py ui?g ' lobk'. the' produced.' in cameoyy f~+ le young girls, was the longest
trf eGShlltti g.?. first ia.the 'trial ' in,fiosemher nn4;tlti;Jhe determinate sentence passed
F where he was recruited Lord Chief,tustice, ford Jane, an any person in Britain in
Prime appeal turnect down'
Continued from page one
who sat in the court through.
out, collapsed sobbing on the
shoulder of a representative
of her husband's solicitors.
Prune was not'in London for
the hearing.
After the court had gone
Into camera for an hour to
It... submissions about mat-
ters affecting national occur'
ity, and after an
adjournment of more than
one and a half hours, the
appeal judges returned to
give their judgment.
Lord Justice Lawton said
that on the matter of the
three sexual offences Prime
was a "dangerous man" as
far as young girls then living
in the Cheltenham area were
concerned, They were serious
offences, and it was right
that. the sentence for them
should run consecutively
with the sentences for spy-
ing.
lie acknogledged that
Prime had confessed his spy'
tog activities to tits wife and
thereby set In train the In-
vestigation. But, Lord Justice
Lawton recalled, he had pre-
varicated for some O me
before making his full
confession to the police and
security authorites.
tie thought it unlikely that
the incentive whichmr Car-
man had spoken of would
ever eneouraher relatives to
take the public spirited
action which Mrs Prime had
demonstrated in Informing
the police of her husband's
confession.
Prime may have occupied a
relatively low position in. the
ittteliigencegathering service,
but It was "not only the
Admiral Byxtga who had to
be, dealt with severely," Lord
Justice Lawton said, with
reference to the fifth century
British. admiral who was exe-
cuted for falling to save
Minorca front the French.
"The humble may have to
be dealt with severely," he
said. Incentives may be a
consideration in the Preven-
tion of large-seste crime, but
in considering the security of
the State the courts had to
achieve a balancing- act, In
the. opinion of the three
appeal judges, the scales
tipped In favour of a deter-
rent sentence.
"It is much better that
spying should never start
then spies should subse-
quently confess." he said.
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?~ A %,A (rl. ~ 1 V ~. V V L/ I V V 1
? I I
have caugnt nim out
THE government's decision to go ahead with the
introduction of lie detectors, or polygraphs, for
screening in the security and itelligence services
raises long-standing questions about their
effectiveness and the ethics of their use. It also
poses an intriguing question. Would Geoffrey
Prime ever have entered the government's secret
comunications headquarters if the polygraph
examinaton had been in use in 1968?
In the course of interrogation by the security
service, Prime said that he would never have
sought employment with the communication::
centre at Cheltenham had he known he would
have to take a polygraph test. And staff at the
American National Security Agency say they are
sure an American counterpart of Prime.would
have been rejected following the test.
Last week, an authority on the use of
polygraphs, Dr Gisli Gudjonsson, a psychology
lecturer at the University of London, said that
he, too, believes there is a strong possibilty that
Prime would have been dicovered. "In 80 per
cent of cases, the polygraph can prove useful, but
in 20 per cent it's not.",
The polygraph (the security commission's
report disapproves of the term lie detector) works
by monitoring such physiological signs of stress
as heart rate and the electrical conductivity of
the skin, affected by sweating.
Evidence as to it effectiveness is wildly
contrasting. Scientists working in laboratory
conditions in America, carrying out "mock-
much public support that it now
by Roger Ratcliffe owns #1,100,000 worth of
and David May broadleaved woodlands
throughout the country.
crime" tests claim to have demonstrated an
accuracy rate as high as 90 per cent. But critics
point to research carried out "in the field" which
suggests a failure rate as. high as three in one.
Britain's security commission recommends a
pilot scheme to test the feasibility of polygraph
testing, to be administered by security staff
trained in America - preferably at a CIA school..
It emphasises that the polygraph would be
used only as "the final hurdle" in; , a recruit's
probationary, period; and that a. supposedly
adverse :polygraph reading would. not in itself
mean'witholding clearance without independent
confirmation.from some other source.
Most imp n tant,.unlike the American
security-practice- where subjects are' given a "full , life-
style" examination including 'such areas as
homosettuality drug-taking and financial affairs,
the use of the polygraph in Britain would be
restricted to counter-intelligence examinations.
But the,cominission's proposed safeguards do
not reassure " the Civil Service ? Unions, the
umbrella body for eight unions repfesenting
more than 520,000 white-collar staff.
The council has prepared an extensive report
on polygraphs and Jones has written to the head
of the civil service, Sir Robert Armstrong, to
express concern about the lack of prior
consultation over the security commission's
Woodman spare that tree,
if the price-tag is right
THREATS to the scenic beauty
of the British countryside from
forestry developments are being
increasingly countered by
chequebook conservationism.
When formal objections to new
plantations or the cutting down
of mature woodlands fail,
environmental groups are now
joining the bidding to buy the
threatened land.
Using a tactic long'employed
by the wealthy National Trust,
much smaller and poorer
groups have started raising
funds to save much-loved
landscapes from being clothed
in conifers. They are taking
advantage of encouragement
from Whitehall, which is urging
the government-controlled
Forestry Commission to sell off
its land.
Last week, two small conser-
vation bodies laid plans to
purchase property.
? The fast-growing Woodland
Trust, which has 25,000 mem-
bers and up to 200 applications
to join every week, hopes to buy
the deciduous Duncliffe Wood
near Shaftsbury, Dorset, to save
it from being felled by a
commercial developer.
? The Friends of the Lake
District, which has just 6,500
members but has successfully
fought off many. plans to
Schools essay
David's father planned for his
education when he was born.That
way byy investing L8,156spread
over 17 years, David will receive
#20,000 worth of school fees and
his father saves #11,844.
C
The children above will e
orth of school fees; nod
but because they knew about!
We helped them plan
planned with us, the more the
intends paying out of income,
the first fees are due, could sav
Our schemes offer mir,
and tax reliefs, and we are con
ideas and new methods of pay
~nr~rll ..n ?,,... a onll toil
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develop sensitive parts of
Britain's largest national park,
intends raising money to buy
land in secenic Dunnerdale,
where the Forestry Commission
plans a new conifer plantation.
This form of conservationism
is however, very expensive. The
commission has put the 180-
acre Duncliffe Wood, which is
two-thirds ash and oak and one-
third conifer, on to the market
for aroung # 100,000.
John James, director of the
Woodland Trust, a group
dedicated to saving broadleaf
woods, (broadleaves, are our
deciduous native trees) believes
it is well worth it. "It is a super
area and I'm almost afraid to
say what might happen to it - in
case someone wants to do it "
Because the wood is not
designated as a site of special
scientific interest, there is no
grant aid for the purchase from
Mick Brown
The Friends of the Lake
District is much smaller. After
successfully fighting off plans to
develop two of the national
park's most scenic lakes, last
year it was presented with a new
battle. The Forestry Com-
mission acquired 370 acres at
the head of the Duddon Valley,
one of the few in the area to
escape from heavy tourist
attention, and announced its
intention to pl4nt it with
conifers.
.,It is an unthinkable
scheme," says Geoffrey Berry, a
consultant secretary to the
Friends and noted landscape
photographer. "The original
plans have been altered as a
result of our objection but there
would still be a plantation and
that's not good enough."
The purchase of the plot in
Dunnerdale will cost an esti-
mated #75,000. Like the Wood-
land Trust, the Friends of the
sources like the World Wildlife Lake District believes such
Fund or the National Heritage expenditure is. money well
Memorial Fund. So the trust spent. "We are going to launch
makes regular appeals for funds. a big appeal for funds," says
Te last appeal on Radio Four Berry. "It's a huge task but we
brought in #30,000. In the last can't stand back and let such a
five years, it has attracted so scene be radically altered."
IThe pound Never Nazi
In last week's special Maga-
Our latest income plan
f increasine the
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LESSONS OF PRIME CASE
PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT
- EXTENSIVE BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION TO INCLUDE OVERSEAS
- POLYGRAPH, BOTH INITIAL, PROBATIONARY AND RIP
- TWO PERSON RULE
- PACKAGE INSPECTIONS
- CONTROL OF COPYING MACHINES
- REPORTING FOREIGN TRAVEL
- INTERVIEW FORMER SPOUSES?
STAT
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