Difficult for many to have to delve into family history of partner's parents etc etc. It is certainly not a form you can fill in in a spare moment.
Very true. It matters not now, but I honestly didn't know at the time that my paternal Grandfather was a gun runner in Northern Ireland. I found it all a little confusing. TS clearance, but not allowed to manage projects with companies there, even remotely. Yet I'm still a referee for a 1 Star secret-and-devious type person who spent half his career there.
proscribed organizations which our lot didn't care much for
I discovered in 1985 that if one subscribed to Socialist Worker, promotion beyond PTO3 was prohibited. (One below MoD(PE) minima). An eye-opener to what MoD knows about its staff!