Russell and Carol - hayle and hearty

“It is a matter not so much of concealing as of withholding and what is withheld is not so much the truth as the facts.”

—cabinet secretary, Sir Burke Trend, 1963

The magazine Private Eye provoked panic in Whitehall when it identified C, the letter used to denote the head of MI6, hitherto secret papers released at the public record office yesterday [Wed 16 Feb 2000 01.44 GMT] reveal.

The
magazine broke existing media conventions by naming Sir Dick White as
C, standing for Chief, in a column by Claud Cockburn, in August 1963. In
a small paragraph headed "Note to foreign agents" he named Sir Dick as
the "head of what you so romantically term the British Secret Service".

A
hastily-summoned meeting chaired by the cabinet secretary, Sir Burke
Trend, concluded no action could be taken. Since Cockburn's source was
not known and Sir Dick's name was widely known in Fleet Street, he could
not be prosecuted under the official secrets act.

...

Officials dragged Harold Macmillan, the prime
minister, into the affair after proposing a series of discreet meetings
between C and the head of MI5, Sir Roger Hollis, with "responsible
editors".

Sir Burke discussed what the media
should be allowed to publish. "It is a matter not so much of concealing
as of withholding and what is withheld is not so much the truth as the
facts."