MI5 legality

[emil]

Hi all, just thinking about the MI6 and 5 job adverts etc. I was wondering what is the legal basis, if any, for what MI5/6 do? Sorry if this has been discussed before.

Emil

[Annie]

Hi Emil

Welcome to the forum.

It’s a good question, especially in the light of what’s going on in the world at the moment. The short answer may surprise you – it’s yes. However, you may find the longer answer more enlightening…..

MI5 and MI6 were set up in 1909 during the build up to the 1st World War, and their remit was to uncover German spies. For the next 80 years they didn’t officially exist and operated outside the law. In 1989 MI5 was put on a legal footing for the first time when parliament passed the Security Service Act. This stated that they had to work within legal parameters, and if they wanted to do something which would otherwise be illegal, such as break into and bug someone’s house, they had to get the written permission of their political master, the Home Secretary. Without that, they were breaking the law just as you or I would be. This also means that all investigations prior to 1989 are, by definition, illegal. Perhaps we should take a class action about this to Europe?

MI6 and GCHQ were not put on a legal footing until the 1994 Intelligence Services Act, and are answerable to the Foreign Secretary. The same Act also set up the Intelligence and Security Committee in Parliament as a sop to democratic oversight. However, it is appointed by the PM, answerable to the PM, and the PM can vet its findings. They also have no power to call for witnesses and documents from the spooks.

When David Shayler and I were recruited by MI5 in the early 1990s, they were at great pains to explain that they worked within the law, were accountable, and their work was mainly investigating terrorism. Once we were there, this quickly proved to be untrue. They are incompetent, break the law, let bombs go off on British streets, connive at the imprisonment of innocent people, illegally bug people, lie to government (on whom they hold personal files) and indulge in false flag terrorism. This is why we left and blew the whistle.

With all this hysteria about the threat from “Al Qaeda”, and the avalanche of new powers and resources being thrown at the spooks, as well the erosion of our liberties, we need to keep a cool head. Why don’t our political “leaders” take a step back and ask what precisely are the threats facing this country, and how can we best police them?

There’s a lot of historic baggage attached to MI5 and 6, particularly after their dirty tricks against the left in the 1980s and in Ireland over the last 35 years. As they are now primarily doing a policing job against terrorism (and a damn bad job at that!) why not just clear the decks and start again? Set up a dedicated counter-terrorism agency, which is properly accountable to parliament, as the police already are and the spies are not.

As it stands we have the most secretive intelligence agencies in the western world. They are exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, and protected by the draconian Official Secrets Act. The OSA makes it a crime for anyone to blow the whistle on crimes committed by the spies, and there is no public interest defence. No other western democracies have spies who are quite so unaccountable or who operate so blatantly above the law. The closest analogies are probably the intelligence agencies of countries such as Libya or Iran. Particularly as we now know that MI5 and MI6 officers are conniving in extraordinary rendition and the use of torture.

So legal? Yes, in theory. Do they abide by the law? Only when it suits them. Are they ethical? Absolutely not.

Regards

Annie

[emil]

Hi Annie, thanks for your reply. That would explain why they're able to advertise now.

I was half thinking some of us could apply for a laugh....

Emil

[kbo234]