By the end, the old traitor had lived in Russia longer than he lived in the West.
George Blake, the former British spy who died yesterday aged 98, had once hankered after what he called ‘little slices’ of England. Above all, Christmas pudding and whipped cream.
Following Communism’s collapse these luxuries became less elusive, but there was one thing that his ever-grateful Russian spymasters could never conjure: the family he left behind more than half a century ago.
True, there was one occasion when his three sons saw him in Moscow, but it only accentuated his loss.
One of the most notorious double agents in the history of British espionage, Blake later sought permission from then Prime Minister Tony Blair to return to the UK to meet his grandchildren for the first time. Try it, he was warned, and you’ll be arrested on sight.