Tom Driberg: His Life and Indiscretions

Product Information

The most interesting fresh evidence to come to light, and in its way the most pathetic, is the story of how Boothby met the Krays. This was through Leslie Holt, a young, good-looking cat burglar, with whom Boothby fell in love after meeting him at gambling club in 1963. In 1942 he was elected to the House of Commons at the Maldon by-election as an Independent. In 1943 Driberg was dismissed from the Daily Express and transferred to the Reynold's News. He later wrote for the Daily Mail and the New Statesman. Tom Driberg (c. 1935) In a memo to the director general dated November 11, 1986, according to the witness’s statement, “Dame Eliza stated that ‘a friend’ had told her about a newspaper article which appeared in The Star on November 3, 1986. She said that Morrison was being ‘hounded’ by the media as a result, and that he had vehemently denied all claims to ‘another friend’.”

He was made a peer by Harold Wilson in 1975 and when he died a year later, his coffin was draped in a red flag. Colin Peters is a former Foreign Office official and tax barrister, who prosecuted VAT cases for HM Customs & Excise. Boothby, who died in 1986, aged 86, was a colourful character, a regular on TV who loved to tell a story. He spoke of meeting Hitler in Germany in 1932. Playland’ by Tony Daly reveals Hayman’s interest in promoting a pro-paedophile agenda, especially in arguing to a cut in the age of consent.

'The Krays were deemed untouchable, and, with no one able or willing to rein them in, they ran amok'

Boothby made frequent appearances on television and radio and wrote several books including The New Economy (1943), I Fight to Live (1947), My Yesterday, Your Tomorrow (1962) and Boothby: Recollections of a Rebel (1978). The judge continued: “You were prepared to encourage drugs, and to lace drinks. You have made matters worse by trying to get witnesses not to attend court or to lie to save your own skin. That was disgraceful and you, of all people, must have known it.” At the time it seemed that justice had been done, and that Boothby had indeed deserved this massive sum - over half a million pounds in today's inflated currency. It also seemed as if this settlement would put an end for ever to the doubts and queries raised by the Sunday Mirror article. This left him two alternatives. By doing nothing he would tacitly accept the Sunday Mirror's accusations. On the other hand, to sue for libel would mean facing lengthy and expensive court proceedings which could ruin him financially - apart from whatever revelations the Sunday Mirror could produce to support its story. In 1982, MI5 received information that suggested that Van Strauenzee engaged in sexual activities with young boys whilst in Northern Ireland. This information was shared with the Cabinet Office, who shared it with the Prime Minister.”

Regrettably,” the statement adds, “nothing has been found on MI5’s corporate record to indicate that the risk to children was considered.” In the mid-1980s MI5 received information from two sources that Peter Morrison ‘has a penchant for small boys’.”According to a friend, he (Lord Boothby) was on the point of suicide when help appeared from an unexpected quarter. It came in the shape of two of the Labour party's legal heavyweights - Gerald Gardiner, QC, who would become Lord Chancellor in that autumn's newly elected Labour government, and Harold Wilson's portly "Mr Fixit", the overweight solicitor Arnold Goodman, who was soon to join Gardiner in the House of Lords. They offered to represent him.

The statement continues: “The exact nature of Dame Eliza’s relationship with Morrison is not clear from MI5’s corporate record.”The documents suggest that Duff decided to take no further action together with the director who was responsible for domestic surveillance and subversion. He had been the MP for Chichester since 1970, although he was MP for North Lewisham from 1959 to 1966 when he lost his seat. He previously had been an Olympic athlete and television reporter. Much of this fear depended on the sense of their invulnerability. I was impressed by it myself. The press steered clear of them. So, it seemed, did the police, and they claimed to have protectors and informants in the highest places - "even in the House of Lords," as Ronnie said to me on one occasion. Boothby was also a member of the Conservative Party and eventually East Aberdeenshire selected him as their parliamentary candidate. In 1924 he was elected to the House of Commons. Startling new evidence, presented here for the first time by the Kray twins' official biographer, shows that an extraordinary establishment cover-up resulted in London's most notorious villains being given the freedom of the city. Thanks to what took place, the Krays became `untouchables', who over four long years were allowed to create the most elaborate crime ring this country has ever seen.