MI5 monitored NHS founder Nye Bevan for over two decades

Summarised from 4 outlets · Updated 22 Oct, 00:15 · Archive

MI5 monitored Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan, who created the NHS, for more than twenty years over suspected Soviet sympathies.

Aneurin 'Nye' Bevan, the Welsh Labour politician who spearheaded the creation of the NHS, was monitored by MI5 for more than two decades, according to files released to the National Archives. The security service first opened a file on the backbench Labour MP for Ebbw Vale in 1933 over concerns about his links with known communists. Monitoring continued even after he became a minister in the postwar Labour government and drove through the creation of the NHS.

At one stage, the MI5 director general became so concerned about Bevan's links to a known Russian spy that he approached Prime Minister Clement Attlee in No 10 to warn him. The Daily Mail reports that in 1934 Bevan addressed a rally in Montreal in which he pictured the overthrow of the Nazi regime and 'a united Europe under Soviet rule'.

However, the files show, some within MI5 questioned why Bevan warranted their attention. One officer wrote in 1943 that Bevan's activities were not a matter in which the Security Service should be involved, noting that he made the same remarks frequently on the floor of the House of Parliament, which would be publicly recorded in Hansard. There is nothing in the files to indicate that MI5 ever tapped his phone or intercepted his mail.

After Bevan's death in 1960, an MI5 officer reviewing the file noted: 'Considering what a controversial character Nye Bevan was, the file is remarkably tame.' Ironically, the Daily Mail reports that one of MI5's secret reports on Bevan was addressed to Captain A F Blunt, who was later unmasked as a Soviet spy himself.

How it is being reported

• MI5 monitored NHS founder Nye Bevan for more than 20 years over 'Russia links'Nye Bevan, one of the most important ministers of the post-war Labour government who spearheaded the creation of the NHS, was placed under regular surveillance by M15, files showThe Mirror · 22 Oct, 00:02
• 'Father of the NHS' and Labour icon Nye Bevan was monitored by MI5 for decades for signs of Soviet sympathies while leaders feared party was riddled with Communists, secret files showHe will always be known as the politician who created the NHS - but newly-released MI5 files now shed a different light on the revered Labour minister with his suspected links to the SovietsDaily Mail · 22 Oct, 00:02
• Aneurin Bevan’s personal security file was ‘remarkably tame’ – National ArchivesSome in UK’s security services questioned why Welsh Labour firebrand was of interest Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, the Welsh Labour firebrand who spearheaded the creation of the NHS, was monitored by security services for more than two decades, though his personal file was “remarkably tame”, according to official files released to the public. Bevan came to MI5’s attention in the 1930s over concerns about his links with known communists, papers released to the National Archives show. Monitoring continued even after he became a minister in the postwar Labour government that created the NHS. Continue…The Guardian · 22 Oct, 00:01
• MI5 monitored politician behind NHS for two decades, newly-released files showAneurin ‘Nye’ Bevan first came to the attention of the security service in the 1930s amid concern about his links with prominent communistsThe Independent · 22 Oct, 00:01

In this story: Aneurin Bevan · MI5 · National Archives · Clement Attlee · Ebbw Vale · Wales

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