MI5 missed early chance to expose Soviet agent Kim Philby, files reveal

British intelligence viewed Flora Solomon as inconsequential' in 1951 but her evidence later clinched' case against Philby

Kim Philby could have been unmasked as a Soviet double agent more than a decade before his eventual defection had MI5 not missed an opportunity to question his close friend Flora Solomon, according to newly released intelligence files.

Solomon, born in Russia to a wealthy family, was a former lover of Alexander Kerensky, the Russian leader deposed by Lenin. She told MI5 in 1962 that Philby had tried to recruit her as a Soviet spy in 1937-38.