1981: Newsnight discussion about suspected Soviet spies

This item from a longer programme investigates recent reports about corruption within the security services. George Young, a former deputy director of MI6, discusses the possibility of Driberg and one-time MI5 head Roger Hollis being spies, while American novelist Michael Straight explains how he came to be recruited by Anthony Blunt.

This report begins with newsreel footage of the late journalist and MP Tom Driberg with Guy Burgess in Red Square. It was during this trip to the USSR that Driberg was targeted by the KGB. It's alleged that he was photographed in a homosexual encounter with a view to blackmail.

Aspects of this programme reflect the time when it was made.

BBC Archive: Originally broadcast 23 March 1981.