National security
No, Mr Bond, I expect you to settle out of court
Right now, there are about 60 assorted cases of people trying to sue Britain’s intelligence services. Is that because our spies are unusually wicked, cavalier or brutal? Or because they… Continue reading
24 Comments
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Tax Evader
Rather than respond to CoffeeHousers in the comment thread of my blog earlier, I thought I’d do it in a post (and also take in some of the comments from… Continue reading
30 Comments
What is being done in the name of ‘national security’?
The liberty versus security debate has returned to Westminster, and it’s just like old times. David Davis is having great fun beating up the government, except this time it’s a… Continue reading
65 Comments
Web surveillance plan divides the coalition
The government’s under fire from members of both coalition parties over its plans to extend the state’s investigatory powers to cover new means of communication. Currently, under section 22 of… Continue reading
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Replacing control orders: an unsatisfactory compromise
A small silver lining for David Cameron in the ‘cash for access scandal’: on a quieter day, today’s report on the coalition’s replacement of control orders with ‘Terrorism Prevention and… Continue reading
13 CommentsAfghanistan Isn’t Working
For years now, Afghanistan policy has been governed by a simple question: Do the unknown costs of leaving Afghanistan trump the known costs of staying in Afghanistan? Until now the… Continue reading
5 CommentsBritain makes new senior diplomatic appointments
From the Number 10 website: The Prime Minister is pleased to confirm the following senior appointments: Sir Peter Ricketts, currently the Prime Minister’s National Security Advisor, to become HM Ambassador… Continue reading
16 CommentsGates: Current state of Nato is ‘unacceptable’
The outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has delivered a remarkably frank warning to the European members of Nato that if they do not spend more on defence, the United… Continue reading
22 CommentsWhat were the SAS doing in the eastern desert?
When the official files are opened in 30 years time, we will see what series of decisions led the government to send a helicopter-born SAS team into eastern Libya when… Continue reading
37 CommentsHow to build democracies
Following the events in the Middle East, I have proposed a democracy review of UK bilateral relations and former Europe minister Denis MacShane has suggested that David Cameron set up… Continue reading
35 CommentsMy BBC Radio 4 Analysis programme on Secrecy
Can secrets ever be good for you? I used to describe myself as a “free speech fundamentalist” and believed that there were almost no circumstances in which official secrets should… Continue reading
7 CommentsHow Cameron should structure his national security team
Reports that the Tories are thinking about appointing a Minister for Afghanistan raise the broader question of how they should structure their national security team. Though the Tories bang on… Continue reading
11 Comments