Labour MPs were paid up to £10,000 to meet Eastern Bloc agents during the Cold War, an ex-spy Jan Sarkocy (pictured) claimed
Labour MPs were paid up to £10,000 to meet Eastern Bloc agents during the Cold War, an ex-spy claimed last night.
Jan Sarkocy said at least 15 senior Labour figures had shared information with him in the late 1980s. Some pocketed between £1,000 and £10,000 per meeting but still wanted more, he alleged.
The former Czech spy, who met Jeremy Corbyn at the time, claimed the MPs ‘wanted big bucks for giving us help’.
His latest comments prompted calls for an official probe into the allegations.
Mr Corbyn vehemently denies Mr Sarkocy’s claim he was a paid informant of the Czech secret police.
It was also alleged that John McDonnell had met a KGB agent several times and Ken Livingstone had met representatives of the Czech regime, although there is no suggestion that either of these were paid.
Defence minister Tobias Ellwood wrote on Twitter: ‘Corbyn (and others’) meetings with the StB (the repressive Czechoslovak secret police & intelligence service) at the height of the Cold War … raises serious questions about his loyalty to Britain that should be investigated.’
The Mail understands MPs are urging the Commons foreign affairs committee to consider the claims in its probe into the influence of foreign powers on elections.
Mr Sarkocy, 64, who was not involved in organising or delivering the payments, described the MPs as ‘great sources’ to himself or colleagues in the KGB.
Speaking from his home in Bratislava, he has alleged that Mr Corbyn shared ‘good information that we could use’ with the Communist Czechoslovak regime.
The Labour figures have hit back at the claims, branding them ‘absurd’, ‘ridiculous’ and a ‘tissue of lies’ – and the party has dismissed Mr Sarkocy as a ‘fantasist’.
The row began with claims by Mr Sarkocy in classified documents released by the Czech government that he had met Mr Corbyn three times.
It has piled pressure on the Labour leader over his open attitude towards the then hostile Soviet bloc.
Mr Sarkocy worked for the Statni Bezpecnost (StB) at Czechoslovakia’s London embassy under the identity of a diplomat called Lieutenant Jan Dymic.
He was in Britain from 1986 to 1989 before being expelled and says there was ‘no question’ the Labour figures knew he was a spy.
The former Czech spy, who met Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) at the time, claimed the MPs ‘wanted big bucks for giving us help’
It was claimed official records show only part of the picture and that he met Mr Corbyn – codenamed Agent Cob – ‘more than ten times’.
Mr Corbyn admits meeting Mr Sarkocy, but strenuously denies supplying information to a foreign power.
Yesterday an online petition was launched calling for the Labour leader to make public any files showing his link to Communist spy agencies.
More than 2,500 people had signed it last night.
It said Mr Corbyn ‘has a duty to provide clarity over who he met, what information he handed over, and how deep the relationship was.’
Mr Sarkocy said the Islington North MP was a very ‘smart and polite guy’ and was a communist ‘from the inside’, following in the footsteps of his parents.
Yesterday, Mr McDonnell said the accusations against him were ‘ludicrous’ and ‘lies’. Mr Livingstone said he had ‘no recollection of meeting anyone from the Czech embassy’ and said Mr Sarkocy’s claims were ‘a tissue of lies’.
Tom Watson, Labour deputy leader, attacked the Press, saying the claims were ‘not worth the paper they’re printed on’.
Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said the accusations were ‘rubbish’, telling ITV’s Peston on Sunday: ‘This is what the Tories were chucking at us last year, it got them nowhere.’
John McDonnell’s alleged meeting with an agent
It was also alleged that John McDonnell (pictured) had met a KGB agent several times
John McDonnell is accused of meeting a Soviet agent during the Cold War.
The shadow chancellor is said to have met a man known as P Tibor as he was wooed by spies for the Eastern Bloc.
Jan Sarkocy said he witnessed the meeting in Guildford some time between 1986 and 1989. The former Czech spy said Mr McDonnell was one of up to 15 Labour MPs who were ‘great sources’ to himself or KGB colleagues.
He said Ken Livingstone frequently visited the Czech embassy where he drank whisky with diplomats – and that the then MP was a ‘good boy’ and in a ‘very strong position in the Labour Party’.
Former London mayor Mr Livingstone said that Mr Sarkocy’s accusations were a ‘tissue of lies’.
Mr McDonnell said of the claims against him: ‘These are ridiculous and false allegations. I have never met any Czechoslovak or Soviet agent, nor visited the Soviet or Russian embassy and have only visited Guildford once … for a Labour Party public meeting.’