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Earl Ray Fletcher - Take My Hand Precious Lord 5-18-2014
Leopold Raymond Fletcher (3 December 1921 – 16 March 1991) was a Labour Party politician.
Contents
- Earl Ray Fletcher Take My Hand Precious Lord 5 18 2014
- Early life and military career
- Parliamentary career
- Spy allegations
- References
Early life and military career
Fletcher served in the British Army (1941–48) in the Far East, the Middle East and the British Army of the Rhine. He subsequently worked as military advisor on Joan Littlewood's Oh, What a Lovely War!. He became a journalist, author and lecturer and wrote two plays.
Parliamentary career
Fletcher contested Wycombe in 1955. He was Member of Parliament for Ilkeston from 1964 to 1983. The seat was abolished that year in boundary changes.
Spy allegations
He was revealed as a spy for the Soviet Union according to the records furnished by Vasili Mitrokhin, who arrived in the West after the Cold War.
The widow of the late Labour MP angrily denied the accusation that he was a Russian spy and claimed that he had, in fact, carried out missions for MI6. Catherine Fletcher maintained that not only was her husband an anti-Communist, but he had been asked to use his left-wing influence on behalf of Margaret Thatcher when she was Prime Minister to persuade Bettino Craxi to stand for the post of Italian premier.