Britain's most important double agent of the Second World War almost had his cover blown because his homesick wife could not stand living in England, according to secret files made public for the first time.

A hero of the ‘Great Escape’ who spent five months in solitary confinement in a German concentration camp was denied compensation by the British government after being told he had not endured enough hardship.

David Cameron will “look at” the possibility of fulfilling Gerry Conlon’s dying wish for people he nominated to have access to secret government documents about the 1974 IRA Guildford pub bombing for which he was wrongly jailed.