By Robert Chesshyre

Observer – 29 December 1985

... This tender concern with the health of a "responsible" Opposition was shared by a New Rightist of a different stamp. Dr Julian Lewis, who describes himself as an activist, runs The Coalition for Peace Through Security, a counter-propaganda organisation, frequently branded on the Left as McCarthyite.

Lewis gained notoriety when he and a fellow graduate student infiltrated Newham [North-East] Labour Party in support of Reg Prentice, restoring the party to "moderate" control, only to discover their hero removing himself to the Tory Party.

Lewis, 34, sat beneath a photograph of the 1917 Imperial War Cabinet, and spoke with a speed and determination that made asking questions rather like trying to cross London's South Circular in the rush hour. His self-appointed mission is to expose Soviet propaganda fronts, and to reveal leaders of such organisations as CND in what he perceives to be their true colours.

He said his tactic was to adopt Leftist methods and to be "as committed as they are". He sees the unilateralists of today as the direct descendants of the appeasers of the 1930s. "Joe McCarthy has a lot to answer for, giving anti-Communism a bad name," he said.