LONDON: The erstwhile Soviet Union had "hijacked" Britain’s Labour Party during the Cold War and the "cosy relationship" lasted for over 30 years, a
declassified diary of a Kremlin insider has revealed.
The diary of Anatoly Chernyaev, the Soviet Union’s contact man with the West at the icy height of the Cold War, has in fact revealed the hold that the Communists had over Labour politicians.
It was a relationship that lasted more than 30 years, right up to Margaret Thatcher’s arrival as prime minister in 1979 and even beyond, British newspaper the ‘Daily Mail’ reported.
Indeed, one of the most shocking of the diary’s many revelations is how Labour leaders Michael Foot and Neil Kinnock colluded with the Soviet Communists to try to beat their "common enemy", "Iron Lady" Thatcher.
Another revelation that has come to light is that Ron Hayward, the Labour Party’s general secretary between 1972 and 1982, envisaged a real Soviet-style system in Britain, with the Party General Secretary, not a Prime Minister selected by members of parliament, at the very top. He would refer to himself openly as the "party leader".
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