On Friday 7 August I was told by a journalist at another paper that the Mail on Sunday had a story that Cabinet Minister Peter Mandelson had worked for the spooks – though which branch was not clear. ‘That doesn’t surprise me,’ I said, and described Mandelson’s 1978 Foreign Office (or SIS?)-funded trip to Cuba. ‘He was probably recruited then.’
The Mail on Sunday on 9 August did not run the story but two other papers that day were dropping big hints. The
Sunday Telegraph reported that
‘…a friend of the former MI5 agent [David Shayler] told the Sunday Telegraph that there was “concrete evidence” that two senior [Labour] ministers had worked for the security service…..the same source said that Mr Shayler’s girlfriend, Annie Machon, also knew about the ministers, knew of the location of the evidence, and might be prepared to release the information.’
On the same tack the Sunday Times on the same day reported that Shayler ‘has told lawyers that he has damaging information about a cabinet minister which could “blow up” the government.’
Shayler was threatening to blow the gaff if he was extradited from France and – would you believe it – he was not extradited.
RR