CIPD chief executive Jackie Orme is to be congratulated for her Soapbox statement (26 March): “If we had the courage to stand up and be counted more often on the ethical failings that we can see will damage the long-term interests of our organisations, we might find ourselves taken more seriously.”

More than 20 years ago I worked with the late Harold Bearston and two investigative journalists to expose the actions of the Economic League. This organisation was formed in 1917 and worked with MI5 to blacklist workers suspected of associating with left-wing groups, including CND, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. Hundreds of companies paid an annual subscription fee and also individual payments for every “suspect” identified