This surprised me. But it shouldnt have, hes obviously right. Anyway, Humphrey went on to say that the whole story was nonsense, typical Fleet Street sensationalism.
He was so confident that it was inevitable that he would feel really stupid when I revealed what I knew. I was beginning to enjoy myself thoroughly.
There is no possibility, I asked carefully, that Sir John Halstead ever passed any information to Moscow?
Impossible, he asserted. Out of the question.
Youd stake your reputation on that?
Without hesitation.
I went for the kill. Well, Humphrey, Im afraid I have to tell you that he was spying for Russia for a considerable part of his career.
Humphrey was silenced. But only for a moment. I dont believe it, he said defiantly. Who says so?
I gave him an apologetic smile. He says so himself. He left all his papers to the government with a detailed confession. MI5 says its absolutely true. It checks out all along the line.
Humphrey was speechless. This is a sight that Ive never seen before, and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. He spluttered a bit, and tried to put together a sentence. Finally he said: But, good Lord, I mean, well, he was
One of us? I put in helpfully.
Well yes. He began to pull himself together. Well, that certainly leaves a lot of questions to be asked.
Yes, I agreed, and Im asking you the first one. Why didnt you ask him a lot of questions? Humphrey didnt see what I was getting at. Why, Humphrey, did your enquiry exonerate him so quickly?
He suddenly realised how my questions affected him. You dont mean surely no one is suggesting He went very pale.
So I pointed out to Humphrey that it was all very suspicious. I asked why he hadnt held a proper enquiry. After all, according to the TOP SECRET file, Humphrey had been given evidence of Halsteads surprisingly long stay in Yugoslavia. And shortly after Halstead left Yugoslavia several of our MI5 agents behind the Iron Curtain were rounded up and never seen again.
And there was one specific interpreter with whom Halstead spent a lot of time. I asked Humphrey what hed found out about this interpreter.
She turned out to be a Russian agent. We knew that. Most Yugoslav interpreters are Russian agents. Those who arent in the CIA, that is.
But you never followed her up.
I had better things to do with my time, he said defensively.
I stared at him accusingly. Three months later she moved to England and settled in Oxford, a hundred and fifty yards from Sir John Halsteads house. They were neighbours for the next eleven years.
Humphrey was completely demoralised. He tried to defend himself. You cant check up on everything. You dont know what you might find out. I mean, if youve got that sort of suspicious mind you ought to
Conduct security enquiries. I finished his sentence for him.
Humphreys defence, in a nutshell, was that Halstead gave him his word. The word of a gentleman. And you dont go checking up on the word of a gentleman, especially when you were at Oxford together.
I asked him if hed have checked up on Anthony Blunt. Humphrey said that was totally different. Blunt was at Cambridge.
I listened patiently. Then I was forced to tell him that I had a problem with him.
He was horrified. But you dont think you cant think I mean, I mean, I dont speak a word of Russian.
But you must admit, I said, that it looks as if it must have been incompetence or collusion. Either way
I left the sentence unfinished. The implications were clear enough. Humphrey was dreadfully upset. Collusion? Prime Minister, I give you my word there was no collusion.
Is that the word of a gentleman? I asked ironically.
Yes. An Oxford gentleman, he added hastily.
I wasnt really satisfied. Hows the garden? I asked.
He relaxed and began to tell me about his roses when he realised the full force of my question. No, no, I beseech you, Prime Minister, not gardening leave!
Why not?
I have my reputation to think of.
I thought youd already staked that on Sir John Halsteads innocence.
I told Humphrey that I would have to think long and hard about what to do. I indicated that I would talk to Sir Arnold Robinson, his predecessor as Cabinet Secretary, for advice on handling a security enquiry into a Cabinet Secretary. And I cautioned him against speaking to Arnold until after Ive spoken to him.
He assured me that he wouldnt dream of it.
[What possessed Hacker to warn Sir Humphrey that he would be discussing the matter with Sir Arnold? And why did he believe Sir Humphreys assurance that he would not speak to Sir Arnold himself? These are questions over which historians will ponder for ever. Suffice it to say that Sir Humphrey met Sir Arnold for a drink that very evening, at the Athenaeum Club. Sir Arnolds private diary relates what happened in fully detail Ed.]
Met a flustered and anxious Appleby at the club. After one brandy he revealed the cause of his panic. Apparently the Prime Minister and Geoffrey Hastings of MI5 both think he might be a spy, because he cleared Halstead and Halstead has now confessed all.
Humphrey asked me what he should do. I told him that depends on whether he actually was spying or not. He seemed shocked that I could entertain the suspicion, but I explained that one must keep an open mind.
Humphrey advanced several compelling arguments in his own favour.
1. He was not at Cambridge.
2. He is a married man.
3. He is one of us.
4. He has been in the Civil Service all his life.
5. Unlike John Halstead, he has never believed in things like causes. Humphrey argues correctly that he has never believed in anything in his life.
6. He, unlike Halstead, has never had ideas -- especially original ideas.
These arguments are all persuasive -- but not conclusive.
However, it seemed to me that whether Humphrey Appleby is a spy is immaterial in the short term. I agree with him that, whether he is or isnt, we have to see that it doesnt get out.
Of course, now that I am President of the Campaign for Freedom of Information I am in a very good position to prevent sensitive information from reaching the press. Giving information to Moscow is serious -- but giving information to anyone is serious. In fact, giving information to the Cabinet could be more serious than giving it to Moscow.
The key point is that a scandal of this nature could gravely weaken the authority of the Service. This could result in letting the politicians in -- as in America, they might decide to make their party hacks into Permanent Secretaries and Deputy Secretaries. Even Under Secretaries. The top jobs in the Civil Service would be filled with people who would just do what they were asked by the politicians. This would be unthinkable! There are no secrets that anyone could pass to Moscow that would cause one-tenth of the damage that Britain would suffer if it were governed the way the Cabinet wanted. Therefore Humphrey certainly must not confess, even if he is guilty, and I told him so.
He reiterated that he has nothing to confess. Be that as it may, there is still the other possibility. Nevertheless, I asked him to assume, for the sake of argument, that he is innocent.
He thanked me profusely. I repeated that I was making that assumption for the sake of argument only, without prejudice. Unfortunately, however, if he is innocent of espionage, he is plainly guilty of incompetence.
He denied incompetence. He reminded me that I had appointed him Secretary of the Halstead enquiry. And he suggested that I had hinted to him that he was expected to find no evidence against Halstead.
Naturally I denied this. He has no written evidence -- I made sure of that at the time. And of course I sent him the memorandum that I always sent, the one instructing him to leave no stone unturned, to be no respecter of persons, and to pursue the truth however unpalatable.