Cold War documents link Geoffrey Robinson to Czechoslovakia spyOne of Jeremy Corbyn's most senior MPs was a spy who passed confidential Government documents to an enemy state, according to intelligence files unearthed by The Mail on Sunday.
The Cold War documents report that Geoffrey Robinson, a Minister under Prime Minister Tony Blair, divulged highly sensitive information about Britain's nuclear deterrent over the course of 51 meetings with a spymaster from Communist Czechoslovakia.
The files also describe alleged contact between Mr Robinson and Russian KGB agents.
Given the codename Karko by the Czechs, Mr Robinson, who was then an ambitious Labour Party apparatchik, allegedly:
- Passed the Czechs 87 pieces of intelligence between 1966 and 1969, including highly sensitive details relating to Britain's Polaris missile programme and Nato briefing notes;
- Accepted gifts worth more than £12,000 in today's money, including Harrods vouchers, cases of wine and a gallon of whisky;
- Declared himself a 'Leninist' and was hailed as one of Czechoslovakia's 'most productive sources' in the UK.
The documents held in an official Prague archive claim that Mr Robinson acknowledged at the time that he 'was involved in espionage' and would be 'sent to prison' if caught.
Last night Mr Robinson, Labour MP for Coventry North West since 1976, strenuously denied the allegations. He issued a statement through lawyers denying any wrongdoing.
'At no time did he ever pass confidential government documents or information to any foreign agent and he did not have access to such material,' it said.
'The allegations made by the Czech authorities 50 years ago are a lie.'
The files were examined by leading Czech intelligence expert Dr Daniela Richterova, of Brunel University, who said: 'I don't know whether what he allegedly did at that time was illegal, but it could be looked upon as betrayal. People working for government should not have been passing off intelligence to the Russians or its satellite states.'
One of Parliament's wealthiest MPs, Robinson was a central New Labour figure, closely allied to both Tony Blair and Gordon Brown.
The Mail on Sunday has written permission to publish extracts. They detail Mr Robinson's alleged cultivation as a source and how he was expensively wined and dined at exclusive London restaurants and clubs.
Even after the Czech regime and its Soviet allies brutally suppressed the Prague Spring uprising in 1968, killing 137 civilians, the Labour official allegedly continued to collaborate with the StB.
A highly placed senior British intelligence source was shown the Robinson file on Friday.
Stationed in the Eastern Bloc during the same period, the source initially suggested that Robinson was, perhaps, working for the British security services as a double agent.
But several hours later, following discussions with former colleagues, he was less certain of this, adding: 'I have spoken to people who would have known him and they have no recollection of him.'
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