Black Country MP Bob Edwards DID spy for the KGB, claims new book

The authors also say disgraced Walsall MP John Stonehouse was spying for the Czech secret police.

The book claims that Mr Edwards, the former Wolverhampton South East MP, was a spy for the Soviet secret service.

The two espionage experts say they now support earlier claims about the MP, who represented the area for 32 years in Parliament.

Mr Stonehouse, who infamously faked his own death, is also listed as being a mole for Eastern bloc intelligence.

• MORE: Was Bob Edwards really a Soviet spy?

• MORE: From future PM to faking his own death: The curious case of MP John Stonehouse

However, veteran Labour MPs David Winnick and Ken Purchase last night leapt to the defence of Mr Edwards, describing the claims as 'utter nonsense'.

The allegations follow previous reports in 2009 which suggested Mr Edwards, who died in 1990, may have been working for the Russians.

He was MP for Bilston 1955 to 1974, and then for Wolverhampton South East up until 1987.

Historians point to a 1961 expose on CIA chief Allen Dulles, which was co-authored by Mr Edwards, but drew on Soviet source material that would have been difficult to come by.

However, he had earlier been a member of the advisory council of the anti-communist trade union propaganda group Common Cause.

No documentary evidence has ever been found relating to Mr Edwards alleged spying activities, although reports suggest he was given a medal for his services.

In contrast, a file was found on Stonehouse in the vaults of the Czech secret service in the 1990s.

Ironically, it contained complaints about the quality of the information he had supplied. Stonehouse died in 1988 when he collapsed on a live television show.

The new book, entitled The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers, is written by university professors Richard Aldrich and Rory Cormac.

On both Mr Stonehouse and Mr Edwards, the book states: "By the 1970s, Labour prime ministers were inspecting MI5 files on their own MPs and wondering what level of risk was involved in appointing them to government.

"It was now known by Downing Street that some MPs – like John Stonehouse – had actually worked for Eastern bloc intelligence services.

"Indeed, one of the longest-serving MPs in the House of Commons, Labour's Bob Edwards, who represented Wolverhampton South-East until 1987, was a fully-paid-up KGB agent.

"Other MPs had worked closely and enthusiastically with the CIA or Mossad."

Mr Edwards died in 1990, but Labour colleague and current Walsall MP David Winnick has leapt to his defence.

Mr Winnick, who has represented Walsall North since 1979, admitted that 'anything was possible' during the Cold War but that it was 'most unlikely' that Mr Edwards would have been spying for the KGB.

He said Mr Edwards' Trotskyist views which were in direct conflict with the Stalinst KGB.

He said: "Anyone could have been anything and I am not in a position to say it is impossible. What I would say is that anything is possible. Stalin had all the Trotsky supporters killed. So why would a Trotskyist like Bob end up spying for the Stalinists? It doesn't add up."

Current Wolverhampton South East MP Pat McFadden said: "I am not aware of these claims. They would be a big surprise, as he is still fondly remembered and well respected."