The Daily Telegraph newspaper has been criticised by Tory MPs after it ran a front page story raising questions over whether Tory leadership contender Rory Stewart worked as a spy.
The broadsheet, which has used its editorial clout to support its own columnist, and leadership front runner, Boris Johnson, carried the front page headline “Mystery of Stewart’s past links with MI6” on Tuesday.
Despite the Official Secrets Act protecting the operations of Britain’s security services, the Telegraph published claims from an unnamed “Whitehall source” that Stewart was recruited as a “007-style” agent whilst studying at Oxford University.
The Telegraph’s claims were met with criticism from Conservative MPs and Stewart himself.
When asked whether he was a spy, Stewart told BBC Radio 4′s Today programme: “No. And in fact, the law wouldn’t allow newspapers to reveal the identity of intelligence officers.”
Tom Tugendhat, MP for Tonbridge and Malling and a former Army officer, said: “Whoever these Whitehall sources are need to seriously rethink their ethics.”
Defence Minister Tobias Ellwood said it was a “curious headline”. “With no one in mind I stand by anyone who chooses to serve,” he said. “A duty not taken lightly that should be praised and respected”.
Others accused the Telegraph of a “hatchet job” on Stewart whilst paying Johnson £275,000 a year for opinion columns.
And the story itself was described as an “epic backfire” by those who saw it as an attempt to detract from Stewart’s burgeoning campaign, which has seen him tour the country.
It came after Stewart responded to questions about his supposed career as a spy.
Asked by The Sun newspaper last week if he had worked for MI6, the foreign spy agency, Stewart replied: “No.”
But he added: “It’s the Secret Intelligence Service, bound by the Official Secrets Act. So even if you found someone who was an intelligence officer, they wouldn’t tell you they were an intelligence officer.”
A brief history of Stewart’s career chronicles his extensive foreign diplomatic career.
He worked as an infantry officer in the British army before attending university and joined the UK’s foreign Diplomatic Service soon after graduating.
The 46-year-old was a deputy governor of Iraq after the 2003 intervention, a role of which he was awarded an OBE by the Queen.
“On leave from the Foreign Service he walked for 21 months crossing Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Nepal, staying in 500 village houses on the journey,” a biography on his website added.
His father, Brian Stewart, worked for the intelligence service overseas in a career spanning decades.
He became MP for Penrith and the Border in 2010.
The Foreign Office has been approached for comment.