ABSTRACT
Pulvertaft was within days asked for advice on a BBC TV ‘Inside Story’ programme entitled ‘The Informer’, claimed to include the first ever interview with an anonymous member of the IRA who had doubled as a Royal Ulster Constabulary agent. This caused alarm in Whitehall, because although the BBC’s Controller of Editorial Policy (and DPBC Member) said the programme had been cleared with the appropriate authorities, none of the many authorities concerned could discover which had done so. This Northern Ireland ‘first’ was indicative of a trend in disclosures which faced Pulvertaft throughout his time in office. 38
