The Great Betrayal

Lobster Issue 8 (1985)

[…] is just a poor effort on Bethel’s part. One can’t deny that it is useful – after all, it is the first book written solely about an MI6 operation – but one is disappointed by its thinness and its viewpoint. Bethel’s (partly legitimate) excuse is that documentation is unavailable because of Kim Philby’s involvement […]

Coach into pumpkin: some problems with Paget

Lobster Issue 54 (Winter 2007/8)

[…] (Northern Ireland) Report that the term “agents” is used to refer to informants or sources and not “agents” as it is sometimes colloquially understood to be, “ MI6 spies”. Thus the reference to “agents being involved in murder” was a reference to actions of informants rather than the authorities.’ Paget concludes with the cosmically […]

Obituaries

Lobster Issue 35 (Summer 1998)

[…] what the British Left assumed Catholic Action in Britain was up to (but for which it never produced the evidence). Frank Steele (obit Guardian 5 January 1998) MI6 officer sent into Northern Ireland in 1971. Involved in 1972/3 attempts to resolve the conflict. C. Gordon Tether (obit Financial Times 3 December 1997) FT writer […]

The view from the bridge

Lobster Issue 54 (Winter 2007/8)

[…] spooks’ pay-day for all the career-building info’ they had slipped him in the previous decade, he writes: ‘I am certain that those to whom I spoke at MI6 acted then in good faith. I remember one particular conversation I had with an official in the early summer of 2003, not long before Andrew Gilligan’s […]

Fifth Column: A brief sojourn East of Suez: a last gasp for British great power status

Lobster Issue 54 (Winter 2007/8)

[…] into play some awkward facts. The UK’s largest Muslim minority is from Pakistan. Western engagement against Islamism in Western Asia would naturally create conflicts of loyalty. While MI6 might enjoy itself understanding the intricacies of Pathan tribal politics, it was MI5 that was going to have to pick up the pieces. As we move […]

What Price National Security?

Lobster Issue 40 (Winter 2000/1)

[…] interest is clear; for example, John Young, of the cryptome site, had received telephone calls on behalf of SIS, asking him to remove the CX95 document (concerning MI6 involvement with a plot to kill Gaddafy) from his website, but refused. But should anything be published on the internet? John Young said they would publish […]

Searchlight again

Lobster Issue 26 (1993)

[…] ‘Special Intelligence Service’ — sic. Presumably he means Secret Intelligence Service. Stupid mistake or someone trying be clever, pretending they don’t actually know the other name of MI6? ‘At the behest of his intelligence masters’ — there is no evidence that Morris has any intelligence masters and he — while flattered, perhaps — denies […]

George Korkala’s address book

Lobster Issue 7 (1985)

[…] others are more interesting, like Jock Wilson of Scotland Yard, who has a long career in Special Branch and is said to be a link to MI5/ MI6. We apologise for any mistakes: the original was none too clear. If you recognise any of the names please contact us. Thanks to SC for the […]

Your Right To Know: How to use the Freedom of Information Act and other access laws

Book cover
Lobster Issue 49 (Summer 2005)

[…] an absolute exemption for information that was supplied directly or indirectly, or relates to the following security bodies: the Security Service (MI5), the Secret Intelligence Service ( MI6), GCHQ, Special Forces …the National Criminal Intelligence Service…a certificate from a minister is all that is needed for the exemption to apply…….The security services in the […]

Web Update

Lobster Issue 34 (Winter 1997)

[…] and disarmament. Secret Kingdom http://www.cc.umist.ac.uk/sk/index.html ‘An initiation into the very real world of some of the more secretive government and military organisations in the UK.’ e.g. MI5, MI6, GCHQ, SAS, SBS, others. Basic stuff but all we have at the moment; and links e.g. to Mossad, Seals, Green Berets, Special Forces and counter-terrorism site. […]

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