Sir Robin Butler (left) sitting beside John Major at Cabinet A memo has just been released from Britain’s National Archives. It concerns discussions at the apex of the British government about salacious rumours relating to John Hume’s private life. It was sent to Sir Robin Butler, Cabinet Secretary to John Major’s government, and also to Major’s private secretary, Sir Alex Allan. Allan is not as well-known as Butler (although he once surfboarded to work on the Thames). He was later appointed Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). The JIC overseas the activities of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, which indicates Allan had plenty of experience in the murky world of intelligence before he became the head of the organisation which ran the whole show.