Alex Gordon was a police agent recruited by Herbert Booth, of P.M.S.2. (related to MI5) in 1916 to infiltrate the labour and anti-war movement which was proving more effective after the introduction of conscription in the United Kingdom. [1][ better source needed]
Gordon's first assignment was the infiltration of the Industrial Workers of the World. [1][ better source needed]
Months after a "most repellent incident" 'Gordon' being "withheld from the witness-box in the Wheeldon trial after being used as an instrument for getting a conviction", The Nation (edited by Henry William Massingham) demanded: "who set this man to work? what is his identity?" [2]
In the House of Commons, William Anderson MP continued asking questions about 'Gordon''s work, finishing with: "whether an assurance will be given that 'Alex Gordon' will not in future be employed in any capacity by the government". [3]
The name Alex Gordon was one of the aliases for William Rickard.
References
- ^ a b Simkin, John. "Alex Gordon". Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd. Retrieved 4 April 2016.
- ^ The Nation, 2 June 1917, page 217. (A.Wayfarer).
- ^ Hansard, House of Commons debate, 14 June 1917, col 94. cc1107.
Further reading
- Jackson, John 'Losing the plot. Lloyd George, F.E.Smith and the trial of Alice Wheeldon', History Today, May 2007, pages 42-49.