‘Suspect Nation’ now on YouTube
Jan 11, 2007 Defence, FOI in the news, Freedom of Information
You can now see this Channel 4 documentary on YouTube. I worked with writer Henry Porter to explore the extent of universal surveillance in the UK, and whether the rights we have under the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Informaton give us any kind of protection to ensure this slew of personal information is [...]
Names of weapons sales officers must be released
Apr 26, 2006 Defence, FOI in the news
The Guardian has managed to get a meaningful decision out of the Information Commissioner. This ruling sets a good precedent for a number of cases where public officials are refusing to be identified.
Watchdog orders MoD to unmask arms sales officers
By David Leigh and Rob Evans
The Guardian, 26 April 2006
The information commissioner, Richard Thomas, yesterday [...]
Article: Covering arms & defence
Dec 21, 2005 Articles, Defence
Journalist’s Toolbox on investigating the arms trade
Overclassification – a direct threat to national security
Aug 1, 2005 Defence
An interesting and forthright Government hearing published today by a Congressional Reform Subcommittee on “Overclassification and Pseudo-Classification” gives clear evidence why excessive secrecy is a danger to national security both in America and the rest of the world. See:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/congress/2005/030205overclass.html
U.S. Representative Christopher Shays (Connecticut) bluntly describes the very real danger to the American public resulting [...]
Iraq War resignation letter censored
Mar 24, 2005 Central Government, Defence, FOI in the news
The Guardian
By Richard Norton-Taylor
Thursday March 24, 2005
The government yesterday tried to suppress evidence that the attorney general believed war against Iraq was illegal less than two weeks before British troops joined the US-led invasion of the country.
It has removed a key passage in the resignation letter written by Elizabeth Wilmshurst, deputy chief legal adviser [...]
MI5 files released at National Archives
Mar 7, 2005 Defence
The National Archives have released a number of MI5 records this week. They include secret tips for Russian spies coming to London in the 1930s. Look in file KV 2 /137 (a hard copy is available to view online). These particular documents were seized by the Germans from a Russian agent captured in Paris during [...]
Public access to Defence Estate
Feb 23, 2005 Defence
The Ministry of Defence has put together a website that gives information about public access to the Defence Estate. The site includes maps showing general access to various defence properties. A detailed walking guide is available by following the link ‘Walks on MOD Lands’ on the publications page.
Public access to the defence estate can [...]
Britain most prolific telephone tappers
Feb 1, 2005 Campaigns, Defence
Britain’s police, Customs and Secret Services are the most prolific telephone-tappers in the European Union, according to an article in The Times last week:
Britain’s spies keep phone taps out of court
The irony is that this type of surveillance cannot be used in a British court. So exactly why are we the most spied upon people [...]
Arms firms plan to thwart disclosure law
Dec 29, 2004 Companies, Defence
An article in the Guardian on Christmas eve highlighted several recent incidents where the government has backed down from requiring public authorities to reject broad confidentiality agreements.
The Ministry of Defense has written to arms firms promising them a virtual veto, according the article. And the code of practice on implementing the law, which urged [...]
FOIA extensions
Nov 12, 2004 Access Laws, Defence, Education
When the Phillis Report concluded that the ministerial veto should be struck from the new FOIA, the government refused to amend the Act preferring to wait until the Act was in force and then see how it ‘bedded down.’
Yet when it came to weakening the Act there were no such qualms.
On 4 November, 2004, [...]
