Thursday, May 08, 2008

On this day

in 1961, former British diplomat George Blake, was jailed for 42 years after being found guilty of spying for Russia. In 1966 he successfully escaped from London's Wormwood Scrubs.

Born in Rotterdam, Blake was the son of a Dutch mother and a Turkish/Jewish father who was a naturalised British citizen and there is one quote from him which is apposite:

Blake denied being a traitor, insisting that he had never felt British: "To betray, you first have to belong. I never belonged."
given this story:
Thousands of foreigners are being allowed to work in high security parts of Britain's airports without passing proper criminal record checks, it was disclosed last night.

Despite warnings that terrorists would try to recruit people working "airside" in terminals – with direct access to aircraft and baggage – no attempt has been made to check whether foreign workers have committed any offences abroad

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