MI5 and ‘Cambridge spy’ they never caught
Papers show intelligence services became convinced diplomat was Soviet agent but never found the proof
MI5 believed a Left-wing academic who had been a university contemporary of the Cambridge spy ring was a Russian agent. Newly released documents from the National Archives show that Desmond Patrick “Paddy” Costello was followed as he met Soviet agents and his wife was implicated in a plot to procure fake identities for KGB agents, according to claims by British spies. Costello never faced charges and died in 1964.
MI5 believed a brilliant Left-wing academic and diplomat who had been a university contemporary of the Cambridge spy ring was a Russian agent, according to newly released files.
Desmond Patrick “Paddy” Costello was followed as he met Soviet agents, while his wife was implicated in a plot to procure fake identities for KGB agents, British spies alleged.
Documents released to the public yesterday for the first time show the extent of the security service’s suspicions against Costello, who died in 1964.
The files at the National Archives in Kew are the latest contribution to a long-running controversy over whether Costello was a Soviet spy, or wrongly tarnished with McCarthyite smears.
The New Zealand-born academic, soldier and diplomat never faced charges. However, British spy hunters claimed he went on to be seen with known Soviet agents, while handwriting analysts had linked his wife Bella to a plot to use documents from long dead children to build fake identities for KGB spies.
Last night Costello’s son dismissed the material, saying the case against his parents had already been debunked.
Mick Costello, a former journalist and communist industrial organiser, said the evidence presented against his parents was “pretty thin”.
Paddy Costello was identified by the MI5 historian, Prof Christopher Andrew, based on KGB files, as one of the Soviet Union’s most important agents.
Costello first came to the attention of MI5 while he was studying at Cambridge in the 1930s, when Kim Philby and his spy ring were recruited by the Soviets. However, he was later given a job with New Zealand’s Legation in Moscow.
Dr Richard Dunley, from the National Archives, said Costello was reputed to have told the New Zealand prime minister he was “a little bit Left-wing” only to be told: “Oh well, it won’t hurt us to have one or two communists in Moscow”.
MI5 was horrified Costello had been appointed to such a sensitive post, but when it tried to raise concerns had to admit the case against him was “a thin one”.
Costello was forced out in 1955 after it became clear Britain and the US were reluctant to share intelligence.
Dr Dunley said MI5 had been unsure whether he was “simply politically ac- tive” but became convinced he “working directly with the Soviets”.
In 1960, his wife was linked by her handwriting to a KGB plot to build false identities. Two years later Costello was reported to have met two Soviet agents, but Dr Dunley said details were “sketchy and there were even some doubts over the identification” of the officers.
His son told The Daily Telegraph the latest information appeared “a rerun of the sort of stuff that was previously run against my father”. He said he had never heard of allegations against his mother before. He added: “An MI5 handwriting expert wouldn’t stand up in court anywhere.”