Was Labour secretary ‘Agent Hammer’?

Cynthia Roberts, who was the honorary secretary of the Labour Action for Peace (LAP) group in the Eighties was later accused of spying for the communist Czech government.

Documents that emerged in 2008 reportedly showed that she worked for the country under the code name Agent Hammer.

The files, held by the Czech security service, claimed that Ms Roberts, who stood as a Labour Parliamentary candidate in 1979, wrote dossiers for the regime on senior Conservative politicians including Margaret Thatcher and David Mellor after moving to Prague in 1985. Ms Roberts,

pictured, moved to the Czech capital from London where she had reportedly used a House of Commons office to help to run LAP. The Mail on Sunday reported that a file entry dated April 2 1986 said Ms Roberts was to be “used on the problems of British intelligence services”.

In 2008, Ms Roberts was living in a communist-era block of flats on the edge of Prague. She denied being a spy. LAP, founded in 1940, still exists today.

Mr Corbyn was LAP president when the 2008 allegations emerged.

Responding to the claims at the time, he said: “I don’t know Cynthia Roberts at all. Of course, I’m surprised. This was long before I was involved in the organisation.”