Support Our Work Mailing list About / Contact

MI6: accountable or secret? (1)

01 January 1991

Support our work: become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

MI6: accountable or secret?
artdoc August=1992

The government has announced that MI6, the secret service (the
UK equivalent of the CIA), is to be put on the same legal basis
as MI5. In May John Major became the first Prime Minister to
admit that MI6 actually existed (it was founded in 1911), and
acknowledged that it is currently headed by Sir Colin McColl.
This new `openness' however does not mean that past secrets and
operations are about to be revealed. A letter from the MI6
`welfare officer' to former staff says that this development in
no way changes the practice whereby existing or former agents say
nothing at all about MI6's organisation and do not disclose names
of former colleagues. `The avowal of the Service', the letter
says, `does not mean that we can reveal anything about our
previous association with the Service to outsiders'. The letters
were numbered and labelled `Accountable letters'.
Guardian, 27.5.92.

Statewatch vol 2 no 4, July/August 1992

Our work is only possible with your support.
Become a Friend of Statewatch from as little as £1/€1 per month.

 Previous article

Cabinet Committees

Next article 

GCHQ (1)

 

Spotted an error? If you've spotted a problem with this page, just click once to let us know.

Report error

Statewatch does not have a corporate view, nor does it seek to create one, the views expressed are those of the author. Statewatch is not responsible for the content of external websites and inclusion of a link does not constitute an endorsement. Registered UK charity number: 1154784. Registered UK company number: 08480724. Registered company name: The Libertarian Research & Education Trust. Registered office: MayDay Rooms, 88 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1DH. © Statewatch ISSN 1756-851X. Personal usage as private individuals "fair dealing" is allowed. We also welcome links to material on our site. Usage by those working for organisations is allowed only if the organisation holds an appropriate licence from the relevant reprographic rights organisation (eg: Copyright Licensing Agency in the UK) with such usage being subject to the terms and conditions of that licence and to local copyright law.

About | Contact | Privacy Policy