London, Oct. 6 (ANI): The first authorised history of British intelligence agency MI5 has confirmed that three Labour parliamentarians were Soviet agents, but it could not be proved whether they passed on the sensitive information to the KGB. Written by the historian Christopher Andrew, ‘The Defence of the Realm’ reveals that three politicians named as the Soviet agents are John Stonehouse, who became postmaster general in Harold Wilson’s government, Bernard Floud and Will Owen.

The three were “outed” by a Czech defector, the Guardian reports.

According to book, the trade union leader, Jack Jones, was not “being manipulated by the Russians, but Britain’s top KGB spy, Oleg Gordievsky, confirmed that Moscow “regarded Jones as an agent.”

Andrew noted that Jones accepted some money from the Russians but there is no evidence that he gave them any information.

He also describes how successive British governments wanted MI5 to expand its role during industrial strikes.

During the miners’ strike, Margaret Thatcher encouraged MI5 to monitor the leaders’ activities and communications, notably those of Arthur Scargill.

The book also points out how the Labour party leadership, in the early 1960s, tried to manipulate the MI5 by passing a list of MPs they suspected of being influenced by Moscow.

The real intention of the government was to monitor the activities of those leaders. (ANI)