Now McDonnell and Livingstone are accused over seeing Red spies
SENIOR Labour figures were yesterday forced to deny colluding with Soviet spies as more politicians were dragged into claims about contacts during the Cold War.
Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, former London Mayor Ken Livingstone and party leader Jeremy Corbyn were said by an alleged former Czech agent to be among “10 or 15” Labour MPs he met in the UK in the 1980s.
Jan Sarkocy allegedly worked in the UK from 1986 to 1989 under diplomatic cover as Lieutenant Jan Dymic, before he was expelled.
Last week claims emerged he had several meetings with then backbench Labour MP Mr Corbyn in London.
Mr Sarkocy also claims Mr Livingstone, then a Labour MP who had led the Greater London Council, used to visit the Czech embassy in London to drink whisky and chat.
Mr Livingstone was “a good boy” in a “very strong position in the Labour party,” who also “obtained some very good information”, said Mr Sarkocy from his home in Slovakia.
He also claimed that Mr McDonnell, then deputy GLC leader under Mr Livingstone, regularly met a KGB agent called “P Tibor”.
Trusted
Mr Sarkocy, 64, told reporters that meetings with sympathetic politicians helped establish a relationship with potential future government figures. He also accepted that news of the contacts might damage Mr Corbyn.
Last week, when reports emerged allegedly from declassified secret police archives in Prague, Mr Corbyn’s aides said he had met “a Czech diplomat” for a cup of tea but insisted he was never an agent or informer.
They also said Cold War spies were famous for falsely telling their superiors they had “recruited” people they had merely met.
Mr Livingstone also dismissed the claims, saying: “What information would I have?
“I was a backbench MP and didn’t have access to anything. It’s just a tissue of lies.”
And a spokesman for Mr McDonnell said: “These are ridiculous and false allegations.”
Critics say it showed huge “naivety” on Mr Corbyn’s part not to have assumed any official from behind the Iron Curtain was a spy.
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson said meeting foreign agents showed Mr Corbyn could not be “trusted” to lead Britain.