Letter: Moral questions raised by Philby sale

Sir: I was surprised to read Nicholas Bethell's 'Profits and losses of treachery'. I hold no brief for Kim Philby. As far as I am concerned there should be no profit from his treachery. Yet I find it difficult to sympathise with his victims. They were parachuted into Albania as MI6 and CIA terrorists to ferment bloody civil war without the knowledge or agreement of the people on whose behalf they were trying to roll back Communism.

What would we have done to British traitors parachuted into the UK to ferment armed Communist revolution by the Russians? We would have executed them. After all we executed William Joyce (Lord Haw Haw), an Irishman, for merely broadcasting enemy propaganda to Britain during the war.

Yours sincerely,

GLYN FORD

MEP for Greater Manchester East (Lab)

Brussels

8 September