The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies (86 page)
Read The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies Online
Authors: Jon E. Lewis
Tags: #Social Science, #Conspiracy Theories
Wilson’s delusional character – it was said of him that he made Walter Mitty look unimaginative – make some of his claims of “subversion from the right” difficult to take seriously, while Wright’s
Spycatcher
is more colourful than reliable (by the author’s own admission). An official government report
MI5: The Security Service
found that “no such plot [against Wilson] had ever existed”. But they would say that, wouldn’t they?
There is small doubt that some in MI5, with a little judicious outsourcing to Army and Conservative Party allies, sought by illegal means to bring down the elected prime minister of Britain. What is harder to determine is whether Wilson himself was actually a Soviet stooge. Golitsin’s accusation holds no water; the defector had been briefing the CIA/MI5 for a decade before discovering, ooops!, he had forgotten to mention the biggest secret of all, Britain’s PM is Moscow’s man. More likely, given he was paid for information, he felt the need to invent some good material. The claim of Oleg Lyalin, a KGB defector, is marginally damning: Joseph Kagan, Wilson’s friend and financier, regularly met agents from the Czech secret service. Most troubling of all is Wilson’s resignation. Forty years after the event, no one has ever put forward a convincing reason why Wilson suddenly quit as PM just after starting his fourth term in office. And at the relatively sprightly age of 60.
“Tiredness” was the official stated reason. Meanwhile, the rumour mill energetically cranked out the word that Wilsonski had been obliged to step down because of incriminating evidence against him.
Harold Wilson is that rare thing in conspiracy theory, an alleged conspirator, an alleged conspiratee. Predator and victim.
Further Reading
Paul Foot,
Who Framed Colin Wallace?
, 1990
Ben Pimlott,
Harold Wilson
, 1992
Peter Wright,
Spycatcher: The Candid Autobiography of a Senior Intelligence Officer
, 1987
Table of Contents
Big Brother: InfraGard and ECHELON