| AdminHistory | Burhop planned to visit the USSR in July 1951 as a member of a scientific delegation organised by the Society for Cultural Relations between the Peoples of the British Commonwealth and the USSR (SCR). Shortly before his departure the Foreign Office cancelled his passport. In a parliamentary written reply this action was justified by the argument that it was 'in the national interest to discourage atomic scientists who had at any time had access to classified information from going to Russia'. Burhop had worked on the atomic energy project in the USA from May 1944 to October 1945 but subsequently had no connection with the atomic energy project and no access to classified information in the field. In August 1951 Burhop was issued with a new passport in return for assurances that he would not proceed to the USSR or to any countries regarded as within the Soviet orbit at any time without prior consultation with the Foreign Office. Burhop continued to advise the Foreign Office of his plans to visit Eastern Europe until 1962 when he was released from his undertaking.
Press reporting of the cancellation of Burhop's passport led to libel actions against the press in Britain and Australia. Burhop's solicitor was Arnold (later Lord) Goodman |