Editing Michael Foot (section)

===Gordievsky's KGB allegations===
[[Oleg Gordievsky]], a high-ranking [[KGB]] officer who [[defected]] from the [[Soviet Union]] to the UK in 1985, made allegations against Foot in his 1995 memoirs.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gordievsky|first=Oleg|title= Next Stop Execution|publisher=Macmillan |year=1995|isbn=978-0-333-62086-1|pages=187&nbsp;189}}</ref> Essentially, the allegations claimed that, up until 1968, Foot had spoken to KGB agents "dozens of times", passing information about politics and the trade unions, and Foot had been paid a total of around £1,500 for his information (said to be worth £37,000 in 2018).<ref>"The Spy and the Traitor" – 2018 – Ben MacIntyre. {{ISBN|978-0241972137}}</ref> ''[[The Sunday Times]]'', which serialised Gordievsky's book under the headline "KGB: Michael Foot was our agent", stated in an article of 19 February that the Soviet intelligence services regarded Foot as an "agent of influence" (and a "useful idiot"), codenamed "Agent BOOT", and that he was in the pay of the KGB for many years. Crucially, the newspaper used material from the original manuscript of the book that mentioned Foot by name, something excluded from the published book.<ref name="Williams">{{cite news|first=Rhys|last=Williams|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/sunday-times-pays-foot-damages-over-kgb-claim-1590325.html|title='Sunday Times' pays Foot damages over KGB claim|work=The Independent|location=London|date=8 July 1995|access-date=15 August 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714160356/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/sunday-times-pays-foot-damages-over-kgb-claim-1590325.html|archive-date=14 July 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>

At the time a leading article in ''[[The Independent]]'' newspaper asserted: "It seems extraordinary that such an unreliable figure should now be allowed, given the lack of supporting evidence, to damage the reputation of figures such as Mr Foot."<ref name="Ind1995">{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-article--michael-foots-tainted-accuser-1573992.html |title=Leading Article: Michael Foot's tainted accuser |work=The Independent |location=London |date=20 February 1995 |access-date=15 August 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120123054651/http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/leading-article--michael-foots-tainted-accuser-1573992.html |archive-date=23 January 2012 }}</ref> In a February 1992 interview, Gordievsky declared that he had no further revelations to make about the Labour Party.<ref name="Ind1995"/> Foot successfully sued the ''Sunday Times'', winning "substantial" damages.<ref name="Williams"/>

Following Foot's death, [[Charles Moore, Baron Moore of Etchingham|Charles Moore]] writing in ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2010 gave an account that he said had been provided to him by Gordievsky, containing additional uncorroborated information concerning his allegations. Moore said there was no evidence to show that Foot gave away state secrets.<ref>{{cite news |first=Charles |last=Moore |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/7377111/Was-Foot-a-national-treasure-or-the-KGBs-useful-idiot.html |title=Was Foot a national treasure or the KGB's useful idiot? |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=5 March 2010 |access-date=15 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523092150/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/charlesmoore/7377111/Was-Foot-a-national-treasure-or-the-KGBs-useful-idiot.html |archive-date=23 May 2010 |url-status=live }}</ref>