Information Research Department

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The Information Research Department, founded in 1946, was a department of the British Foreign Office set up to counter Russian propaganda and infiltration, particularly amongst the western labour movement.

John Rennie, who subsequently served as head of MI6, was head of the department between 1953 and 1958.

The department was closed down by then Foreign Secretary, David Owen, in 1977. The last head of the IRD was Ray Whitney, later a Conservative member of parliament.

External links

• [Death of the department that never was] from The Guardian, January 27, 1978
• [Ups and downs of a maverick], book review from The Spectator

 

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