Tomlinson’s suggestion looks a bit potty at first but when you drill down the story becomes very disturbing. He says that the ‘red scare’ programme made by Whiteley and presented by Woodrow Wyatt MP for ITN in 1973 influenced the jury to convict him for charges out of his trade union activity. The programme was broadcast the day before.

I have no idea whether Richard Whiteley was a MI5 asset. I do know about Woodrow Wyatt, once a Labour MP. Have a look at the co-authored book/ Lashmar, P and Oliver. J. (1998) Britain’s Secret Cold War Propaganda War 1948-1977. Stroud: Sutton Pub Ltd.

This is book about the cold war propaganda organisation IRD based in the Foreign Office and that was closely connected to MI6 and MI5. Wyatt was a key external link for IRD and the agencies what we call an agent of influence. He, like a number of establishment figures, was a director of news agencies in an international network of MI6/IRD covert operations. (see page 80). Wyatt was a major outlet for IRD anti-communist material (which of course extended to anti left wing trade unionist activity).

A senior member of IRD Norman Reddaway told us about Wyatt’s importance as (to use E P Thompson’s description of Chapman Pincher) a ‘urinal’ for IRD leaks (see page 106). For an example of Wyatt’s involvement in covert anti left operations channelled through a part of the TUC (which also involved Denis Healey) (see page 111). Wyatt wrote at least one book for an IRD covert funded book series (pg 119) and utilised it secret information channels and connections to push his increasingly rightward views. IRD was a career ramp for many MPs, authors and academics providing them with secret resources denied people they did not agree with.

It would be interesting to know whether Wyatt was paid for his IRD work while  a Labour MP as this would have been illegal (see page 118). Wyatt is a singularly inappropriate person to front a programme (as an ‘objective reporter’) without declaring his long standing covert involvement with intelligence agencies. Wyatt was part of a MacCarthyite anti communist cabal who would have seen any vigorous trade union activity as the work of Stalin’s fellow travellers rather than what was mostly the case the grievances of men working in a badly paid and highly dangerous industry. We also now know that the major construction companies were signed up to secret blacklisting organisations.   Also in the programme was Geoffrey Stewart Smith was for a while an Conservative MP and a famous anti communist and may well have been presented in the programme that way.

Private Eye this week suggests that IRD actually funded the programme which, even at the time, would have been outrageous and broken all the broadcasting regulations and was probably illegal. It would interesting to see the programme now to see how honourably it’s  presenter Wyatt employed the required levels of objectivity, impartiality and balance.  If anyone can confirm IRD paid for the programme I would be fascinated. I have to take the view that Whiteley was the ITV ‘safe pair of hands’ person assigned to script and edit the programme until there is hard evidence otherwise. Fascinating how, after all these years IRD insidious legacy pops up.