Douglas Hurd gave US firm access to MI5 files

[TonyGosling]

A data protection breach. Before the days of data protection.

British Politics
Red Star Research
http://spinwatch.org/latest-news-mainmenu-10/158-british-politics/1902 -security-services-involvement-in-spying-on-workers-in-the-70s
(Not dated)

Government records of 1973 reveal security services were employed to pass on information on workers at Massey Ferguson to the companies' management.

Documents from Government Departments from over 30 years ago have revealed that in 1973 Douglas Hurd, then political secretary to Prime Minister Edward Heath, agreed to the security services help to provide Massey-Ferguson with a list of 'subversive organisations' and, no doubt, individuals.

The decision came after lunch with Tom Powell, chairman of Massey-Ferguson [UK], when the American owned company was under pressure from unions to close the gap in wages between plants at Peterborough and Coventry, where 'the differential' in wages was £15 a week, a not inconsiderable sum at a time when wages were around £40 a week.

Powell had complained that Massey-Ferguson 'had no means of telling when they were recruiting trouble-makers', which is clearly a euphemism for workers seeking to improve their wages. Although he had no facts to back up his claims Powell appears to have asserted 'that academic revolutionaries, often from abroad' had played a prominent part in strikes at the Peterborough.

Hurd is sufficiently concerned to write to Sir John Hunt at the Cabinet Office asking whether Massey-Ferguson could obtain a list of organisations which they should watch out for when recruiting staff.

Hunt is initially unwilling to sanction 'information from official sources' being given to the company for fear that 'anything in the nature of a black list might both hamper the work of the Security Service and put the Government of the day at risk of attack for interfering in the employment field'. Clearly Hunt does not want to reveal too much for fear of jeopardising or revealing the names of Security Service personnel working at the time within various workers movements, including, no doubt,
the trade unions.

Hunt suggests that Hurd refers Powell to the Economic League 'who should be able to give some help'. The Economic League was well known for keeping lists of active trade unionists which it provided at a fee to companies.

Hunt is able to overcome his reluctance to allow official sources give Massey-Ferguson the information they have requested after Hurd complains that Hunt is being 'a bit negative' and that 'Powell is too serious a person to be referred to the Economic League'.

After Hurd complains that he hopes this is not a case of 'the security services collecting information which is so delicate that no use can be made of it' Sir John Hunt then agrees to Mr Powell being given 'a confidential briefing about subversive organisations'.

As there are no minutes of what took place at the meeting it is only possible to speculate that the discussions extended across organisations to include trade unionists active within Massey-Ferguson, and ultimately to what role the security services could play in reducing their influence amongst workers within the company.

Mr Hurd went on to become Foreign Secretary in Margaret Thatcher's Government.