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Secrets and spies: espionage writer to visit University of Reading – University of Reading

Rupert Allason, espionage writer, historian and former Tory MP, will be visiting the University of Reading this week. The MP – who writes under the pen name of Nigel West – will be the guest of the University's newly-reformed Politics' Society when he visits on Thursday (November 23 2006). He will be doing a brief speech entitled 'Using Cold War counter-intelligence techniques against the terrorist target' and will then take questions from the floor on any topic. The talk to students has been organised by Alex Sewell a politics student, in a bid to revive membership of the newly-reformed Politics Society, which was disbanded several years ago. Alex said: "This event will obviously be of great interest to those taken international relations, British politics, or any budding writers." Mr Allason lost his Torbay seat in 1997, by a margin of 12 votes. He became well known for his stance against the Maastricht treaty in 1992, with his abstention causing him to have the party whip withdrawn for a year. The Politics Society talk will start at 2pm, at the Nike Theatre in the Department of Agriculture. The public are welcome to attend, but priority will be given to students and staff. A £1 entry fee will be in place on the door, and anyone wishing to attend should contact Sharon Baker on email in advance as numbers are extremely limited. • Media are welcome to observe and film the talk but will not be invited to ask questions. The £1 entry fee will not be charged for media. Any media wishing to attend should contact Lucy Ferguson, senior press officer, on 0118 378 7388 or email L.Ferguson@reading.ac.uk