Category: Britain
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IRD, MI6 and the eurocommunists
The stream of revelations from the files of Britain’s cold war propaganda unit, the Information Research Department (IRD), continues in the Observer today. The paper reports on how the IRD worked with MI6 in the 1970s to undermine the Italian Communist Party, in spite of the Eurocommunist trend which saw the party taking a more…
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Labour’s Scottish gamble
Politico has an intriguing nugget on Scotland: And while a serious revival in Scotland appears unlikely — one party official admitted only 15 seats north of the border are competitive for Labour, and that “we won’t win them all” — aides are bullish that Tory warnings about Starmer needing a backroom deal with the SNP to secure…
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How a Labour government would deal with Northern Ireland
With a Labour government looking increasingly likely after last week’s ‘fiscal event’, the policy announcements at this week’s party conference have taken on a new significance. Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Kyle didn’t disappoint in that respect, stating that he would set out the criteria for a referendum on Irish Unity if Labour were to…
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MI5 and the far-right: then and now
ITV is running a new thriller next month based on the life of Matthew Collins, a former far-right activist who now works for the anti-fascist group Hope Not Hate. Today's Guardian interview with Collins reveals that he ran four spies inside the BNP's Belfast office, three of them English. There's also this nugget: His work…
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Intelligence and the Arms to Africa Affair
The National Archives move towards a 20-year-rule mean that many records from the early New Labour years are now available. That includes episodes like the 1998 Arms to Africa Affair when a British mercenary outfit, Tim Spicer's Sandline International, sent arms to Sierra Leone in defiance of a UN arms embargo.
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New Foreign Office Advisor called for trade border between Ireland and the EU
When Liz Truss’s press secretary was asked for a list of the new Prime Minister’s advisors earlier this month, journalists were told that ‘you can refer to the Guido Fawkes website.’ So we must take take Guido as authoritative when it reports tonight that ‘Victoria Hewson is leaving the IEA to join the Foreign Office…
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Troubles legacy bill criticised at London trauma event
The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill came under strong criticism last night from a range of voices at a West London event on dealing with trauma from the conflict. Former Irish army officer, Senator Tom Clonan, described the legislation, which received its second reading this week as ‘an act of collective self-harm.’ Among…
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Chinese influence claims draw in Baroness linked to Boris
Last month’s MI5 action alert on Chinese influence seems to have prompted some follow-up in the press in recent days. This week’s (paywalled) Sunday Times had this:
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Aquind decision highlights growing scrutiny of Russian donors
I noted earlier this week that the opposition was attempting to make an issue of Russian donations to the Conservative Party in Monday's parliamentary debate on foreign political interference. Labour attempted this previously in the wake of the Skripal affair, but with the party's Atlanticist right in the ascendant, Boris Johnson weakened and a crisis…
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Foreign influence debate strengthens case for donor transparency
Following last week's MI5 alert about an alleged Chinese interference operation at Westminster, Home Secretary Priti Patel made a statement to the Commons on Monday on foreign interference in British politics. Patel told MPs that such alerts would be more common in future, and "we are developing new national security legislation to make it even…