French vendetta: from Rainbow Warrior to the Iranian hostages deal

Lobster Issue 16 (1988)

[…] also come in for criticism for low productivity in intelligence-gathering. Its information on the Soviet Union or China is scanty and basic in comparison with CIA or MI6 material, and a report indicating a Libyan withdrawal from Chad in 1984 proved embarrassing when it became apparent the following year that the Libyans had actually […]

SAS

Lobster Issue 5 (1984)

[…] both owned by the Property Services Agency, Whitehall’s accommodation bureau. The CTT’s valuable services are available only to serving members of Her Majesty’s forces, including MI5 and MI6, and to non-national serving soldiers. They have trained Irish, Belgian and other continental ‘special forces’. CTT instructors/talent scouts include Lucien Ott, one of the older hands, […]

The view from the Bridge

Lobster Issue 47 (Summer 2004)

[…] the other hand, maybe he didn’t trust Mr Blair and went to the meetings wired. In Lobster 9, in 1985, Ashdown was named as having been in MI6 by Steve Dorril, in the first batch of what eventually became the Who’s Who of the British Secret State. Though I cannot remember why Dorril thought […]

In camera injustice

Lobster Issue 52 (Winter 2006/7)

[…] reliability was questioned by the Defence: he was known to exaggerate and is well-known for seeking publicity. He has also been a public supporter of MI5 and MI6, and he admitted he was paid a pension of £1,500 a month after he defected. The Defence called an ex-CIA Station Chief, referred to as Mr […]

Combat 18 and MI5: some background notes

Lobster Issue 30 (December 1995)

Observers of the activities of the neo-nazi Combat 18 (C18), otherwise known as the National Socialist Alliance (NSA), have been treated to some bewildering documents and allegations recently. In an attempt to clarify who is saying what, and why, I will examine the origins and initial purpose of C18, the role (if any) of alleged […]

Iraq misc.

Lobster Issue 46 (Winter 2003)

[…] circulation of the document to various departments. The usual suspects are there: SIS, MI5, GCHQ and MOD get between 7 copies for MI5 and 20 copies for MI6. But also listed are 32 (yes 32) copies for the DTI. Why? I wonder. Some kind of export initiative?’ Or the DTI is full of spooks […]

Orders for the Captain

Lobster Issue 15 (1988)

[…] of the Munster and Leinster Bank to handle funds from the North for weapons purchases. Having drawn a blank at weapons supplies from America, and uncovered an MI6 agent called Captain Peter Markham-Randall who came to Dublin posing as an arms dealer, Northern representatives began negotiating with a Hamburg arms dealer called Otto Schleuter […]

Splinter Factor

Lobster Issue 22 (1991)

[…] this and on Splinter Factor would be most welcome. Robin Ramsay Steve Dorril adds: If we assume that Operation Splinter Factor did take place, were the covert MI6 operations in the Baltic and Ukraine during this period part of it? Did the British launch their guerrilla operations with Soviet Bloc emigres knowing that while […]

The Red Hand

Book cover
Lobster Issue 24 (December 1992)

[…] history use that expression. Knowledge entails disaggregation. Bruce’s index includes a reference to a tiny Scottish Protestant group, the Young Cowdenbeath Volunteers, but no reference to MI5, MI6, the RUC Special Branch or Information Policy. It’s not that the book isn’t interesting — it is. Like Dillon’s and Urban’s it contains many interesting bits […]

Trust no one: the secret world of Sidney Reilly

Book cover
Lobster Issue 45 (Summer 2003)

[…] in revolutionary politics. 3 Conspicuous by his absence from the author’s list is Arthur Ransome, recently revelealed to have been been working in the Soviet Union for MI6. 4 See Wilde’s Last Stand by Philip Hoare (1997), reviewed in Lobster 38. 5 Yes, seeds. This seems odd but this is what the author says. […]

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