Russian At Embassy (Press, 27 April 1963)
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Summary: Russian At Embassy (Press, 27 April 1963)
On 25 April 1963, Sir William Hayter, a former British Ambassador to Moscow, acknowledged that the British Embassy had kept an employee, later identified as a Russian spy, in their ranks for too long. During an interview on commercial television, he expressed his thoughts on the Radcliffe tribunal's report regarding William Vassall, whom he described in the context of the Embassy's atmosphere at the time, referring to it as a "beleaguered fortress." The tribunal had found that Sigmund Mikhailski, another Embassy employee, discovered Vassall’s homosexual tendencies and exploited them to coerce Vassall into espionage for the Russian security services. When questioned about whether he had suspected Mikhailski was an operative for the Russian security, Hayter stated, "We always assume every man is working for the Russian security services," and admitted that keeping Vassall on staff for as long as they did was a "legitimate criticism." Reflecting on his impression of Vassall, Hayter described him as a "harmless seeming little figure" who had a somewhat ingratiating personality. However, he clarified that he had not viewed Vassall as an "active" homosexual, instead describing him as "ladylike." Sir William Hayter served as the Ambassador in Moscow from 1953 to 1957 before retiring from the Foreign Service in 1958. He is currently the principal of one of Oxford University’s colleges. In a separate incident reported on the same day, a couple from Chippenham, Wiltshire, John and Pamela Broome, were fined £12 10s each and prohibited from keeping dogs in the future after allowing their boxer to starve to death. This case highlighted concerns about animal welfare as the couple faced legal consequences for their neglect.
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