MI5 is in serious trouble – and has failed to learn from past scandals
The IndependentMI5 is in serious trouble. In 2022, Yvette Cooper, then shadow home secretary, called for an “independent assessment” of the case, looking at the way concerns about “the appalling and dangerous crime of domestic abuse” were handled by MI5. Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, also telephoned the BBC’s director general Tim Davie in late 2021, to claim their planned story was “inaccurate as well as reckless”. MI5 has now issued an “unreserved apology” to the BBC and all three courts, describing what happened as a “serious error” while the home secretary has appointed Sir Jonathan Jones KC, former head of the government legal service, as an “independent external reviewer” to investigate how MI5 came to provide false evidence to the courts. Art historian Anthony Blunt joined MI5 in 1940 but began to pass on information to the Soviets I have reported on cases involving spies who were working as MI5 informants but ended up going rogue.
History of this topic
MI5 files: The biggest secrets uncovered from the Cambridge Five archives
The Independent
MI5 forced to shift focus from terrorism to Russia due to ‘finite capacity’
The Independent
Keeping a watchful eye on the enemies of our state
The Independent
MI5's efforts to stop a report on a rogue spy being seen by MI6 led to Margaret Thatcher limiting Foreign Secretary Geoffrey Howe's use of the document, papers reveal
Daily Mail
MI5 boss says Chinese espionage in UK on ‘epic’ scale with 20,000 people approached by spies
The Independent
MI5 boss ‘profoundly sorry’ at failure to prevent Manchester Arena attack
The Independent
MI5 can lawfully tell agents to commit crimes – but can’t stop them going to prison, tribunal rules
The Independent
MI5 licensed informants to commit murder, kidnap and torture for decades, court hears
The Independent
UK's MI5 just admitted to unlawful spying on citizens and their whereabouts
Firstpost
MI5 chief: Britain faces growing threat from Russia
CNN
Ex-KGB agent sues MI5 over 'privacy breach'
The Independent
MI5 can't be trusted to tell truth, senior judge suggested
The Independent
Chances to prevent 7/7 attacks were missed
The Independent
Rights and wrongs of rendition: MI5 consults 'ethical counsellor'
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