Recommendations

Some broader issues come out of the Biggs Affair. The J.D. Hutchinson Commission, which was set up in part to investigate the Godfrey Incident, made two recommendations.

Firstly, no member of the Security Service enrolled as a student at a university should carry out any inquiries into security matters within the precincts of the university. Secondly, the proposed attendance of a member of the Security Service at a university should be discussed between the Security Service and the university authorities before his enrolment.

The difficulty with these recommendations is that they leave the onus of compliance on the Security Service. If they choose not to observe the recommendations, they can do so with impunity. The present vague situation then is worse than useless. It can cast a doubt on the university authorities integrity if an agent, whose existence was previously unknown, is found in the university.

A further problem is how to prevent a man spying for the period that he is at university, when his profession—before he comes and after he leaves—is spying. This must create an insoluable conflict within the individual concerned, between his obligations to his employer, and his obligations to his fellow students and the university staff.

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