Jeremy Corbyn (pictured in 1984) warned a Soviet-backed spy about British intelligence activity at the climax of the Cold War, according to secret documents
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Jeremy Corbyn of having ‘betrayed’ Britain today after secret documents revealed he met a Soviet-backed spy during the Cold War.
Mr Williamson said the revelation, contained in secret files held by Czech security services, proved the Labour leader ‘cannot be trusted’.
The incendiary intervention provoked a furious response from Labour, which has already angrily labelled the claims as a ridiculous smear.
Confidential papers show Mr Corbyn met the Czech agent at least three times after being vetted by communist handlers in 1986, papers reveal.
Two meetings took place in the heart of British democracy – the House of Commons. And in records of the meeting an espionage agent noted how Mr Corbyn was ‘occasionally explosive’.
Mr Corbyn allegedly provided the spies with material about the arrest of an East German, according to the documents leaked to The Sun.
The Labour leader was even given a three-letter codename: COB.
Speaking at a Nato meeting in Brussels today, Mr Williamson blasted: ‘Time and time again he has sided with those who want to destroy everything that is great about this country, whether it is sympathising with terrorists, backing rogue regimes, or cosying up to those who want to inflict pain and misery on the British people.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Jeremy Corbyn of having ‘betrayed’ Britain today after secret documents revealed he met a Soviet-backed spy during the Cold War
‘That he met foreign spies is a betrayal of this country. He cannot be trusted.’
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn hit back at the Defence Secretary.
They said: ‘Gavin Williamson should focus on his job and not give credence to entirely false and ridiculous smears, which as we know from Darren Osborne [jailed for life for the attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park], can have a potentially deadly effect.
‘Jeremy has consistently made the correct calls in the interests of security and peace, including on the Libyan intervention and his opposition to the disastrous Iraq war that has caused catastrophe in the region and made us less safe at home.’
The secret records summarised Mr Corbyn’s political outlook in 1986 towards the end of the Cold War. It said: ‘Negative towards USA, as well as the current politics of the Conservative Government.’
The documents also suggest he was ‘positive’ towards the Soviet bloc and was ‘supporting the Soviet peace initiative’. Mr Corbyn was ‘very well informed’ of operatives in contact with ‘anti-communist agencies’, the papers state.
The Labour leader was the 326th coded source listed in documents relating to Operation Obrana – defence in Czech.
The Labour leader met the Czech agent at least three times after being vetted by communist handlers in 1986, papers reveal
The records, which were found in the archives of the Czech secret police in Prague, suggest the Labour leader was approached in 1986 by activists Tony Gilbert and Sandra Hodgson of the ultra-left wing Liberation movement.
Along with Czech agent Lieutenant Jan Dymic, they later met in the House of Commons on November 25. A second Commons meeting on October 24, 1987, served ‘to strengthen mutual recognition and the deepening of trust’.
The communist handlers noted down Mr Corbyn’s character traits in the document, which is likely to have been seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin – a senior KGB figure at the time.
The report’s author said: ‘Owns dogs and fish. Behaviour is reserved and courteous, however, occasionally explosive (when speaking in defence of human rights), though the performance is calm and collected.’
Mr Corbyn allegedly provided the spies with material about the arrest of an East German, according to the leaked documents
One page of the documents reveals contact was established with Mr Corbyn twice in 1986
Czechoslovakia, which at the time was a puppet state of President Gorbachev’s USSR, relied on a secret police force called the Statni Bezpecnost.
Professor Anthony Glees, an expert in security and intelligence studies, said of the documents: ‘These files show Jeremy Corbyn had been targeted by Czech intelligence services. Mr Corbyn says he didn’t know, but it shows breathtaking naivety from someone who wants to head the British Government.
He added: ‘At the time dissidents were under attack and being imprisoned in Czechoslovakia. In the struggle between the dissidents who were trying to overthrow the communist government and the Czech government, Corbyn is working on the side of the Czech government.
Mr Corbyn, pictured second right with Gerry Adams in 1983, is accused of meeting a Soviet backed spy
‘The Czechs were interested in anti-communists and they are using Corbyn for immediate operational information useful to them.’
A spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: ‘The claim that he was an agent, asset or informer for any intelligence agency is entirely false and a ridiculous smear.
‘Like other MPs, Jeremy has met diplomats from many countries. In the 1980s he met a Czech diplomat, who did not go by the name of Jan Dymic, for a cup of tea in the House of Commons. Jeremy neither had nor offered any privileged information to this or any other diplomat.’
Tory grandee Malcom Rifkind, a former chairman of the intelligence and security committee, said: ‘If these documents are genuine, which they appear to be, then there is a serious case for Mr Corbyn to answer.’
Mr Rifkind added: ‘As a member of Parliament, he should have reported these meetings to the Home Office if he had any suspicion he was an intelligence officer from a Communist country.
‘It would have been very unwise for him not to have done that.’