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GCHQ Whistleblower Goes Free

09:34 / 26.02.04

Hello everybody. Don't post very often but was interested to know what others thought about this ( I think ) very interesting story.

Incase you don't know, Katherine Gun, a translator working at the Government Communications Headquarters has admitted to leaking a memo sent from US intelligence officers to their UK counterparts to the press. The memo was apparently a request that UK intelligence agencies tap into the phonelines of other UN security council delegates in order to get information about their political positions in the run-up to the war in Iraq. Ms Gun was duly brought to trial on a charge of breaching the official secrets act, a charge which is patently true, yet the trial collapsed on it's first day yesterday after the prosecution offered no evidence, and Gun was released without charge. Speaking to jouranlists after being released she said she had no regrets and would do the same thing again.

The government has denied any politcal reason behind the collapse of the case but this is obviously bollocks. I can understand Tony not wanting to have this go to trial in the current climate. An interesting development this morning has been Claire Short saying that this kind of monitering by our intelligence is fairly common, and she's read transcripts of Kofi Anaan's conversations.

So what do we think? Surely this is massive, or will everyone turn a blind eye? I'm not sure just how widespread this phone-tapping is. If everyone does it, maybe it's not such a big deal. Anyway, looking forward to see the PM's media briefing today, if only for that strained expression he's started pulling when he's adamant and under fire.

11:07 / 26.02.04

Tony seemed to be unusually earnest at the press conference today. He seemed really keen that we should understand where he was coming from, and the reasons for his reluctance to talk openly. Which is strange, cos he doesn't normally seem that bothered whether people understand or not. He seemed quite friendly and open in his manner, and even called one of the journalists 'mate', which seemed very odd.

Although he was asked whether he considered this kind of action to be against the Vienna Convention, and he responded by talking about how he wasn't going to go into detail about what the security services actually did. The question asked was whether such behaviour would be wrong/illegal in principle, not whether it had actually happened, so it's interesting that he didn't want to take a firm line on that.

07:16 / 27.02.04

And now former cabinet MP Claire Short has hinted that British secret service members bugged Kofi Annan

Tony Blair said the claims were "deeply irresponsible" Which hardly sounds like a resounding denial...

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:45 / 27.02.04

Hmm... "Bomber" Short in "actually does something she can't backtrack on now" shocker...

As far as I can tell, she didn't actually KNOW she was doing anything radical here... she probably thought this wasn't supposed to be secret.

But hey... sometimes stupid people do the right thing for the wrong reasons...

I'm personally loving this right now. It's a sick kind of pleasure, and I doubt any of this will actually achieve a great deal, what with our lack of credible opposition an' all, but watching Mr Tony squirm is about as much as I can hope for these days.

10:05 / 27.02.04

Wow! everyone's throwing in their two cents (and not just on this thread...)
Robin Cook has piped up today to offer Blair his much appreciated (?) support. Apparently he has doubts that Short's claims are true, stating: "I have never met anyone in the diplomatic community less likely to engage in subterfuge than Kofi". As much as I congratulate Mr. Cook on having such intimate knowledge of his good mate"Kofi", I find this statement odd, as surely Mr. Anann's integrity is not under question. Maybe he wouldn't "engage in subterfuge", but that doesn't stop us spying on him.
One lovely quote from the "Today" program was given by Kofi Anann's director of communications Ed Mortimer. Apparently the UN has asked our government if Ms. Short's claims are true, but so far "I don't think we have got a precise answer on that". Glorious.

10:22 / 27.02.04

I think that Blair's answers are quite interesting, if I have followed them. His response is that Clare Short's remarks are irresponsible and that anyway, secret services operate within the law.

But we know how Blair answers these questions. First, he might not be aware of what the secret services do specifically, and hence his assurance is simply a statement of ignorance. Second, he may not know what the law is - remember the 45 minute claim? - which would make his answer worthless again. And third, he refuses to comment on whether spying on the UN is actually legal, which means that we aren't allowed to know what the law is, though we can rest assured that our boys stay well inside it.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

11:39 / 27.02.04

I've said it before, I'll say it again- Mr Tony is a bloody good lawyer by trade. He excels in defending the indefensible. Why he bothered hiring Campbell et al. is a mystery...

He's good at lying.

13:56 / 27.02.04

What is most depressing about all this IMO is the "lack of credible opposition". Sure, it's obvious this is a shambles, but when the opposition party leader cannot provide a better response than:

It's about time the prime minister got a grip on it and sorted it out

...what are we supposed to do about it? It makes me angry that the leader of the opposition, behind his endless accusations and mud-slinging at the PM, seems to be a very lazy and unimaginative individual. You would think in such treacherous times, the need for strong opposition would be so clear that he would pull his finger out and come up with something of substance. For the country's sake even if not for his own. But he keeps churning out this clumsy, transparent rhetoric that makes even Blair seem like a paradigm of competence. To use his own parlance, he's a...a...well just a really stupid and like, not...not good at saying stuff in a good way, right. So, he should like, make this situation betta, innit?

14:13 / 27.02.04

paragon...paragon.