George Orwell’s Left-wing views and bohemian clothes led British police to label him a communist — but the MI-5 spy agency stepped in to correct that view, the writer’s newly released security file reveals, AP reports from London.

The secret file that MI-5 kept on the author from 1929 until his death in 1950 is being declassified on Tuesday by the National Archives. It reveals that in contrast to the fictional ‘Big Brother’, the cruel and all-seeing secret police of Orwell’s classic 1984, MI-5 took a surprisingly benign view of the writer. The documents show Orwell — whose real name was Eric Arthur Blair — attracted the attention of police in 1936 for alleged “communist activities in Wigan”. Then 33, he had gone to the mining town to research a book about working-class life in northern England.

However the file shows that MI-5 took no action against Orwell. In a note, an MI-5 officer named W Ogilvie reveals that he phoned Special Branch to ask why Ewing had described Orwell as having “advanced Communist views”. The declassified file includes photographs, Orwell’s passport application and a 1936 Special Branch summary of his career.

The last entry in the file notes simply that “George Orwell... died on the 21st January 1950”.