Lord Thomas of Gresford (LD)

My Lords, some 50 years ago last month, I was junior in a trial that took place at Mold Crown Court, prosecuted by the then Attorney-General, Sam Silkin—they earned their spurs in those days by prosecuting in court. An ex-RAF pilot from Valley had knocked on the front door of the Russian consulate, trying to sell them secrets about the Vulcan bombers. The Russians picked up the phone and phoned the Metropolitan Police, and he got nine years. We were not at war with Russia at that time, but then, there was no war in 1911 when the word “enemy” was coined in the statute. By 1913, the courts had extended the word to include a potential enemy. Will the noble and learned Lord kindly tell us again who the Attorney-General was who consented to this prosecution? Was there evidence of the passing of any classified documents or information, as opposed to tittle-tattle, between these two idiots? Was there evidence of money changing hands? Without such evidence, Senior Treasury Counsel, who had the responsibility of presenting the case to the jury, would inevitably advise that the prosecution was weak and might very well fail. Nothing seems to have been discovered in the subsequent 13 months and the case was, very properly, dropped. I have no inside information, but is that analysis correct?