Bevin’s Boys Abroad: British Labor Diplomacy in the Cold War Era

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Image from Wikipedia, under the caption: Announcing the death of the covert Information Research Department, 1978: David Leigh 'Death of the department that never was'. The Guardian, 27 January 1978, p. 13.

Excerpt:

Abstract: In this article the rise and fall of the position of the labor attaché in British diplomacy during the Cold War is analysed. Experts from outside the diplomatic corps worked, and continue to work, in British embassies alongside diplomats. Labor was a prominent domain of expertise during the entire Cold War era, but this has almost disappeared today. It could therefore be claimed that British diplomacy was able to adapt to changing political circumstances. However, this is a story with multiple layers and contains not only elements of change but also continuity over the longer term of the diplomatic enterprise that, despite flexibility and increasing openness, remains a world apart. ...

Christopher Mayhew ... founded the Information Research Department (IRD) in the Foreign Office in 1948. IRD was primarily a policy tool to counter the threat of communist expansion and influence through propaganda. The IRD was a semi-secret department that also produced ‘black propaganda’ ... . The IRD tried to place this propaganda in the publications of local trade union movements. For them this was an important instrument for influencing public opinion “in view of the growing importance, throughout the world, of organized labour and of social questions.” ...

Labor attaches were one of the channels through which the IRD worked, although there was, in principle, no direct contact between them and the IRD. They received their information both from the FO and from the Ministry of Labour and were given the central assignment of investing time and effort in fostering positive attitudes toward Western-style democracies, with respect to trade union organizations and public opinion.

The Foreign Office thus increased the number of attachés as part of British Cold War strategy. Labor attachés were sent not only to the main European countries and the United States but also to Argentina, Brazil, China, Egypt, Mexico, Persia, Peru and Venezuela by 1950. ...

The Ariel Foundation was one of the most important private cover organizations. It was ‘run’ by the IRD which was from 1953–1958 led by John Rennie (later head of MI6) and from 1966–1969 by Nigel Clive, who was also a prominent MI6 agent. The foundation organized visits for “important personalities who cannot conveniently be covered by any official scheme … Trade union visits might well be suitable for sponsorship by the foundation." ...

The local missions played an important role in implementing this form of public diplomacy. ...