Ex-MI6 boss: Jeremy Corbyn 'incredibly naive or complicit' over Czech spy meeting
2 min read
Jeremy Corbyn was either "incredibly naive or complicit" over his meeting with a Czech spy at the height of the Cold War, according to the former head of MI6.
Sir Richard Dearlove said official documents unearthed by The Sun showed the Labour leader was the target of "classic cultivation" by the former eastern bloc country.
Papers from the former Czech state police, known as the Statni Bezpecnost, showed Mr Corbyn was first approached in 1986 by left-wing activists and agreed to further meetings.
The Sun claimed that at one of those, Mr Corbyn passed information to the diplomat, including warning him about a clampdown by British intelligence on eastern European spies operating in the UK.
Labour has insisted the reports are "entirely false".
But speaking to The Sun after examining the documents himself, Sir Richard said: "Either Jeremy Corbyn was incredibly naïve or he knew exactly what was happening to him, so he was complicit in all this."
He added: "These are genuine documents which shows he was targeted and the case was advanced, at a time when a very unpleasant Czech regime was persecuting dissidents. They were the enemies of the West.
"They wouldn’t have targeted him unless they believed he was a Communist fellow traveller."
The former spy chief's comments came after Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson accused Mr Corbyn of "betrayal of his country" over the row.
But a spokesman for the Labour leader said: "Richard Dearlove, who as head of MI6 was involved in the infamous dodgy dossier that helped take us into the disastrous Iraq War, should not be trying to give credence to these entirely false and ridiculous smears."
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
