ABSTRACT
Before the OSA process had been completed, 1989 had started with the Guardian revealing the identity and former postings of the new Chief of the SIS, Colin McColl. 293 This time, although there was ritual tooth-sucking on the governmental side, there was no great debate, nor D-Notice activity. In February a draft article on ‘Nuclear Scotland’ was submitted to Higgins by the Daily Record for advice, and, there being nothing damaging or indeed new, he offered none, but with the formulaic statement that this did imply all the facts were correct (they were not). Thames Television consulted on a programme about Blake, asking whether there had ever been a D-Notice on him; Higgins tracked down a copy of the Thomson Private and Confidential letter to editors of 1 May 1961 in the SIS archives, where curiously it had been upgraded to ‘Top Secret’.
