MI5 ‘missed chance to expose Soviet spy Kim Philby decade sooner’

Spy came back from Spanish Civil war ‘agitated’ and declared his support for Russia, according to friend

Double agent Kim Philby defected to Soviet Union in January 1963 (BBC News)

A Soviet double agent could have been unmasked more than a decade before he defected if MI5 had questioned one of his close friends, according to newly released intelligence files.

Kim Philby, a former British officer at MI6 - the UK’s foreign intelligence service - began spying for the Russians in the 1930s and the extent of his penetration was exposed in October 1967.

A close friend of his called Flora Solomon, born in Russia to a wealthy family, was a former lover of Alexander Kerensky, the Russian revolutionary and lawyer who led the provisional government until he was deposed by Vladimir Lenin in 1917.