Defence of the Realm: author marks 100 years of MI5 with official history
The first official history of MI5, to be published on Monday, is expected to dismiss numerous accounts of a plot to smear the former Labour prime minister Harold Wilson at the height of the cold war paranoia of the 1970s.
The book, The Defence of the Realm (from regnum defende, the Security Service's motto) marks the centenary of the founding of the agency. It has been written by Christopher Andrew, a Cambridge professor and leading historian of Britain's intelligence agencies.
Andrew was seconded to MI5 while writing the authorised history and the book has been vetted. MI5 says it edited material for "reasons of national security" but did not attempt to influence the author's judgment. Andrew has indicated it was not in his interest to produce a whitewash.
The author is, though, expected to dismiss claims made by Peter Wright, the former MI5 officer, in his memoirs, Spycatcher, that Sir Roger Hollis, a former head of the agency, was a Soviet agent. Spycatcher presents claims about attempts to destabilise Wilson and his Labour government in the 1970s. Lord Hunt, a former cabinet secretary, who investigated this in 1977, confirmed the existence of rightwing plotters in MI5, though they were mavericks unsupported by senior officials.
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The book, The Defence of the Realm (from regnum defende, the Security Service's motto) marks the centenary of the founding of the agency. It has been written by Christopher Andrew, a Cambridge professor and leading historian of Britain's intelligence agencies.
Andrew was seconded to MI5 while writing the authorised history and the book has been vetted. MI5 says it edited material for "reasons of national security" but did not attempt to influence the author's judgment. Andrew has indicated it was not in his interest to produce a whitewash.
The author is, though, expected to dismiss claims made by Peter Wright, the former MI5 officer, in his memoirs, Spycatcher, that Sir Roger Hollis, a former head of the agency, was a Soviet agent. Spycatcher presents claims about attempts to destabilise Wilson and his Labour government in the 1970s. Lord Hunt, a former cabinet secretary, who investigated this in 1977, confirmed the existence of rightwing plotters in MI5, though they were mavericks unsupported by senior officials.