From the BBC:
Members of the "Cambridge Five" alcoholics ring were seen by local publicans as hopeless spies incapable of gathering or keeping secrets, newly-released files suggest.
Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, "Kim" Philby and Anthony Blunt were recruited to spy on rival drinking establishments while propping up the bar at Cambridge University in the 1930s.
There may have been a fifth lush in the ring, possibly John Cairncross. Documents from the Dog And Duck archives have been made publicly available for the first time. Red Lion staff described them as the most completely unintelligent spies ever.
Barman Vince Michaels smuggled the information out of Dog And Duck archives during his 12 years behind the taps. He defected to The White Hart in 1992.
Debate Magazine
