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The Court of Appeal ordered the disclosure of evidence that showed that MI5 knew about the mistreatment by the CIA of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, a UK resident who chose to wander around areas of the world which wiser folk might have avoided.
This then led to cries that the Secret Service orchestrated a ‘cover-up’ which, in turn, led to vehement denials by the Home Secretary and the Head of MI5.
Britain is still, thank heavens, a free and democratic country and there are far too many people who try to interfere with and upset that. MI5 and other intelligence departments exist to protect the people of this country and do so very often under difficult constraints and circumstances.
Of course, they must operate within the law and that was made clear by the Head of MI5 when he said yesterday: ‘People who choose to work in the service do so because they want to protect the UK and its liberties. We are an accountable public organisation and take our legal and oversight responsibilities seriously.’
Now I am no advocate for torture; in fact, quite the opposite.
But I am an advocate for keeping secrets secret, especially when it comes to terrorism, and I think I tend to agree with the view that some human rights lawyers and other activists help the cause of extremism in this country.
.
The Court of Appeal ordered the disclosure of evidence that showed that MI5 knew about the mistreatment by the CIA of a former Guantánamo Bay detainee, a UK resident who chose to wander around areas of the world which wiser folk might have avoided.
This then led to cries that the Secret Service orchestrated a ‘cover-up’ which, in turn, led to vehement denials by the Home Secretary and the Head of MI5.
Britain is still, thank heavens, a free and democratic country and there are far too many people who try to interfere with and upset that. MI5 and other intelligence departments exist to protect the people of this country and do so very often under difficult constraints and circumstances.
Of course, they must operate within the law and that was made clear by the Head of MI5 when he said yesterday: ‘People who choose to work in the service do so because they want to protect the UK and its liberties. We are an accountable public organisation and take our legal and oversight responsibilities seriously.’
Now I am no advocate for torture; in fact, quite the opposite.
But I am an advocate for keeping secrets secret, especially when it comes to terrorism, and I think I tend to agree with the view that some human rights lawyers and other activists help the cause of extremism in this country.
.
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