JERSEY: CONSTITUTIONAL AND POLITICAL SYSTEM
by
Austin Mitchell
Labour MP for Great Grimsby
Jersey is located in the English Channel. Geographically, it is closer to France than to Britain but it is a UK Crown dependent territory. The residents of Jersey are subjects of the Crown but not of the British government or its rules, regulations and taxes. British pound Sterling is the legal tender in Jersey and the exchange rate of Jersey’s own currency (Pound) is tied to the UK currency. Jersey residents can take up employment (without any restrictions) in the United Kingdom and can send their children to schools and universities in the UK and their sick can also be cared for in the UK at the British taxpayers’ expense. However, Jersey is neither part of the UK nor the European Union (EU). Neither is it an Associate Member of the European Union. Under protocol 3 to the Treaty of Accession signed by the UK in 1973, Jersey (and the Channel Islands) are included within the EU for the purpose of free movement of manufactured and agricultural goods. However, the provisions relating to fiscal harmonisation and financial services do not apply to Jersey. Other provisions of the Treaty of Rome, including those relating to the free movement of EU citizens, capital movements and the harmonisation of taxation and social policies also do not apply to Jersey. The 1991 Maastricht Treaty does not disturb Jersey’s anomalous position in any way.
In regulatory circles, variously described as a financial bolt-hole, tax haven and funny money laundry, Jersey is the richest and most populous (with population of 85,000) of the Channel Islands. Its constitutional position as suggested by the 1973 Kilbrandon Report is that “the United Kingdom are responsible for the defence and international of the islands, and the Crown is ultimately responsible for their good government. It falls to the [UK] Home Secretary to advise the Crown of the exercise of those duties and responsibilities. The United Kingdom Parliament has the power to legislate for the islands but it would exercise that power without their agreement in relation to domestic matters only in the most exceptional of circumstances” (Hansard, 3 June 1998, col. 471). Jersey has its own laws and taxes which are enacted by its Parliament, the Jersey States, but approved by the Privy Council and the Sovereign. However, in common with other Channel Islands, Jersey has not enacted any of the UK and/or European Union treaties and laws on human rights, legislation to combat money laundering and organised crime.
The anomalous constitutional and political position allows Jersey to offer a friendly offshore welcome for finance, money and wealth. Indeed, those wealthy enough can agree their tax liabilities in advance before they settle as racing driver Nigel Mansell has recently done. The main attraction to money, its owners and manipulators are the low tax regime, secrecy, the less constrictive regulatory regime, standard 20% personal and corporate tax rate, though after various deductions most corporations pay a much lower rate. Jersey has perfected the art of looking both ways, presenting a respectable face to the British government and the world but a welcoming wink to offshore finance which all too often has different preoccupations and different reasons for going to Jersey than its lovely climate and situation. Successive British governments have pretended not to notice anything, but other regulatory authorities have not been so obliging. John Moscow, the New York Assistant District Attorney chased the crooked dealings of Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) and came up against a veil of silence in Jersey. He said, “My Experience with both Jersey and Guernsey is that it has not been possible for the US law enforcement to collect evidence and prosecute crime. In one case we tracked money from Bahamas through Curacao, New York and London, but the paper trail stopped in Jersey …… it is unseemly that these British dependencies should be acting as havens for transactions that would not even be protected by Swiss bank secrecy laws” (The Observer, 22 September 1996, page 19). Accountants and others have flocked to the funny money havens to shave tax-bills and ply their laundering expertise . The Jersey connection is also visible in the 1990 UK High court case of AGIP (Africa) Limited v Jackson & Co. (1990) 1 Ch 265 in which Mr Justice Millett said that accountants “knowingly laundered money”. It is also prominent in the Polly Peck affair. More recently, the United Nations has publicly expressed concerns about its role in drug trafficking and organised crime .
In Jersey politics, there is an unhealthy overlap of business, legislative, executive and civil service interests. The separation of judiciary, executive and legislature traditionally found in liberal democracies are absent, resulting in abuse and silencing of any dissent. Though there is universal suffrage and regular elections for representatives in their constituencies and senators representing the whole island, general elections are rare i.e. all the seats in Jersey States (i.e. Jersey Parliament) are rarely simultaneously contested. The government of the island is the States of Jersey. The President of the States of Jersey is the Bailiff of Jersey who is also the chief civil officer, a judge, Head of Judiciary in respect of all courts, whether civil, criminal or mixed. He is also the Speaker of the Jersey States and presides over all sittings of the States and is thus a guardian of the rights of its elected members and able to determine which members can speak and when. The Bailiff is neither elected by the people nor the elected members of the Jersey States, but is appointed by the Crown. The Crown’s chief representative on the island is the Lieutenant Governor, who mainly occupies a ceremonial role. Jersey has no formal Cabinet system of government. Instead, there are a series of Committees (of which the Finance and Economics Committee is the most powerful) and numerous other bodies and sub-committees. Each committee is presided over by a member of the Jersey States, who also happens to be a powerful local businessman. The Presidents of these committees are effectively the Ministers. Most members of the Jersey States are members of one or more of the Committees and are expected to be legislators, executives and critics and are supposed to keep their business affairs out of politics. The government operates with utmost secrecy, even the minimalist freedom of information is absent and Cabinet papers are never published, not even after twenty/thirty years.
Unlike most liberal democracies, Jersey has only one Chamber of Parliament, with no chance of a second opinion. Members of the Jersey States are part-timers who have to run other businesses to earn their living. Deprived of adequate secretarial and research support, they are not easily able to research the big issues whilst those in-charge have the resources of the civil service (and sponsoring businesses) behind them and are always able to give the impression that they know best. There is no written record of parliamentary proceedings relating to any proposed legislation though the wealthy individuals can buy audiocassettes of the debates, costing £10 per cassette. There is no political party system and all aspiring Members of Parliament stand as individuals. Their manifestos are full of apple-pie and motherhood statements and none offers any specific political mandate or to bring political change to Jersey. The best consumer protection is either to buy non-Jersey goods or to buy them from major international stores. The island has no university and it does not attract much scholarly attention. Books and monographs providing details of its recent history are far and few. Jersey does not have consumer protection laws or trade description acts. There is no minimum pay and no employment rights. A large number of European migrant workers oil the Jersey economy, but are forbidden to rent or buy property for the first twenty years of their stay, all relying upon the mercy of their masters. But millionaires are always welcome.
Jersey’s aggressive pursuit to be an offshore financial centre has decimated its traditional economy. The once mighty agriculture and tourist sectors now account for only 5% and 24% of the economy . The financial services sector forms 55% (unofficial estimates put it as high as 90%) of the economy. This boon has also been a curse as it has driven up the price of real estate and land and has gobbled up the available work force. Alternative economic activity has little chance of flourishing. The Jersey establishment now has little choice but to continue to find new ways of attracting finance and finance related activity. One of Jersey’s major attractions has been the feather-duster approach to regulation. There are no independent bodies to regulate the financial sector (though under pressure it is in the process of creating some structures) and the role of Jersey organisations in the BCCI, Polly Peck, AGIP, money laundering or any other scandals is rarely investigated. Jersey does not demand the publication of financial information from even the largest of banks and financial operators located there. These policies have enabled the Jersey to attract footloose money.
In 1996, Jersey’s GDP reached £1,350 million. Most of it consists of profits booked by major finance houses. Various trusts and banks located in Jersey boast assets of some £200 billion which are mostly located in cyberspace. Very little of the impressive financial statistics relates to actual economic activity on the Island. Whilst some wheeler-dealers, property speculators, accountants, lawyers and financiers have done very well, little of this wealth percolates down to the masses. In 1996, the Jersey government managed to raise £284.4 million from taxes. Unemployment is at less than 1% of the workforce. The reliance on financial piracy has enabled Jersey governments to produce balanced budgets and ordinary people simply don’t want to ‘rock the boat’ or do anything that might attract international regulatory attention.
Jersey`s politics are as intimate as those of any small council in Britain, but untroubled by ideological, class, wealth distribution, power asymmetries, environmental, gender, ethnicity and other divisions. The political system is run in the interests of wealth, followed at some distance by good government and good order, then the interests of the ordinary islanders who enjoy a minimalist welfare state. A small business elite now dominates Jersey politics once dominated by the old landed agricultural interests. The new political elite has close connections with wealthy money manipulators. They are more interested in attracting wealthy people. They want to attract “brass plate” names, banks, trusts and offshore financial businesses, enabling them to book some of their profits at low tax rates in Jersey and avoid taxation in their host countries. This is now being supplemented by providing a bolthole for accountancy firms keen to escape the consequences of audit failures . Jersey’s politicians claim that their affairs are not riven by social divisions and party clashes. Yet this tolerant intimacy (as later section will show) presents a very different face when threatened by internal dissent. There is nothing when that happens to offer protection to dissenters or mavericks from community ostracism. Jersey is in effect a one party (the business party) state run by a clique of business interests. An elite which benefits from independence, controls political power, and even the media. Jersey Evening Post, the island’s only major newspaper, is owned by Senator Frank Walker, President of the powerful Finance and Economic Committee. The local commercial radio and television stations are owned by others, but rarely present any in-depth analysis of Jersey politics while the professions are assiduous in their service of the dominant financial interest. When some members of Jersey States sought to voice concerns over the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) laws, the Jersey establishment branded them ‘an enemy of the state’, a label strong enough to silence dissenters and persuade Jersey States to pass 95 pages of insolvency legislation in less than thirty minutes . Dissent has no base, no mouthpiece and no defenders.
Despite international concerns, there has been no systemic scrutiny of Jersey’s very convenient independence, its constitution, its institutional structures, its predatory tax regime and other privileges. No British government has sought to rein any of this, however inconvenient it finds the Jersey loopholes and international condemnation. The approach can be summed up in the Kilbrandon Commission’s report conclusions that “anomalies seem to us to be things that should be, if not encouraged, at least accepted so long as they are cherished by those most directly affected and do no harm to others. We have not approached the Islands in any spirit of reforming zeal. We have found no sign that this was the desire of the government of the United Kingdom”. More recently, the British government has become concerned not about the independent regime in Jersey, but about tax fiddles exploited there by British residents and British money and the facility that the regime gives to both to avoid British regulation and obligations. Morally, Jersey’s perks are indefensible for the emphasis on not being part of the United Kingdom is really a fiction. As part of a greater unity, the island should contribute its own share, but does not and that issue is rarely raised in political circles. In reality, there is no real threat to either tax or financial independence merely to excesses exploited by British residents though this does not stop the Jersey elite interpreting any criticism of its role and authority as a threat to the whole fabric of the island. Even if it is more likely to be a demand for human rights, or for environment, and action such as those demanded by the handful of Greens.
The unfriendly face of the friendly isle emerges when threats arise. In Jersey the worst threat is anything which draws attention to its internal affairs, lax regulation, or anything which might focus attention on the financial and tax perks offered to footloose finance capital. The ruling elite interprets any threat to its power as a threat to the island, its way of life and its system of government and trundles into action a powerful clobbering machine, part legal, part political, part media and in large part community, since it comes down to denunciation, ostracism, personal abuse, even deprivation and unemployment. Some of this has been highly visible as Jersey has been on the prowl for more business, this time from major accountancy firms seeking to escape the consequences of audit failures.
JERSEY LEGISLATURE FOR HIRE
An accepted feature of liberal democracies is that organised interests lobby and seek to influence civil servants and Ministers and shape legislation. However, Jersey goes further than this. It permits the organised interests to indulge in DIY legislation, they draft legislation and the Jersey establishment promises to pass it “on the nod”. Such practices came to light during the passage of the Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) legislation . In June 1995, Jersey was approached by major international accountancy firms with a view to enacting legislation which would give them considerable liability safeguards, accompanied by complete secrecy, no public accountability, no independent regulation and no express rights for those who might be negatively affected by their negligence.
The public spin was that the principle of ‘joint and several liability’ of partnerships has not served the Big-Six accountancy firms very well even though on the back of it they were making £3.5 billion in the UK and some US$51 billion world-wide. So Jersey came out as the white-knight to their rescue. The pretence was that LLP legislation was operationalised in many USA states, but the Jersey States were never told the USA LLP legislation was part of the quid pro quo where in the aftermath of the huge Savings & Loan scandals, auditors in turn accepted greater responsibility for reporting fraud to the regulators. Jersey secured no quid pro quo, nor any duties upon auditors who might locate there. The Jersey States were never told auditors might be facing lawsuits for alleged negligence because they have been using audits as a market stall for selling other wares and in the process used audits as loss-leaders to attract other business. Nor was any reference made to the internal policies of the firms which result in very tight time budgets and which barely give audit trainees adequate time to do the work. Rather unsurprisingly, scholarly research has shown that a considerable part of audit work is falsified i.e. it has simply not been performed because people in the field are not given enough time to do it.
No public evidence of any kind was produced to show the actual liability settlements made by firms. More importantly, the Jersey establishment never let on that the negligence lawsuits against the auditing arms of accountancy firms were initiated by the insolvency arms of other firms (i.e. the firms sue each other) because in their capacity as receiver, liquidators and administrators, they stand to collect at least 10% of all the cash raised. In the UK, the auditing firms already enjoyed considerable liability protections. For example, following the 1990 House of Lords judgement in Caparo Industries plc v Dickman & Others [1990] 1 All ER HL 568, auditors do not owe a ‘duty of care’ to any individual, present/potential shareholder, creditor, employee, pensions scheme member, bank depositor or any other stakeholder. They only owe a ‘duty of care’ to the company. Following the Companies Act 1989, they could trade as limited liability companies, a right that they campaigned for. In return they would have to give up secrecy and partnership tax perks. But amongst major firms only KPMG incorporated and then only the auditing arm of its operations. The rest, along with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW), formally their regulator (under the Companies Act 1989), in practice their advocate and defender, began to campaign for a framework which would give them protection from lawsuits, replacement of ‘joint and several liability’ with a system of ‘full proportional liability’, ‘capping’ of auditor liability, secrecy, tax perks and no rights for audit consumers. Under a Tory government which used accountants to spearhead its privatisation programme, regulation of health service, local authorities and self-assessment, the prospects of a favourable hearing looked good. Lobbying was in the hands of Ian Greer Associates and in Neil Hamilton, the then Corporate Affairs Minister, Ian Greer had a compliant Minister. Until Hamilton fell from grace and government received an opinion from the Law Commission that ‘full proportional liability’ was against the public interest and that it could not find any “principled arguments for capping” auditor liability. So major accountancy firms began to look for a lever to exert pressure on the UK government. They approached Jersey in the hope that a favourable liability position so near the UK mainland, accompanying by a threat to move from the UK to Jersey, would persuade the British government to concede all their demands.
Price Waterhouse and Ernst & Young initiated discussions through their Jersey representative, Mourant du Feu & Jeune, whose one time leading partner (subsequently consultant) was Senator Reg Jeune. As Jersey civil service expressed some reservations, prior commitments and lack of resources for drafting the necessary legislation, Ernst & Young and Price Waterhouse had the LLP Bill drafted by a London law firm at a cost of a million pounds. They all worked closely with the Finance and Economics Committee and its President Senator Pierre Horsfall. In the Bill, the firms gave themselves considerable liability protection, with no public accountability and no rights for audit consumers. In the draft Bill, there was not even an obligation for the firms to say on their headed paper that are located in Jersey. After some tidying up the Jersey law draughtsmen the Bill was finally referred to the Jersey States. Rather unusually, the LLP Bill also contained an acknowledgement of “the contribution of Price Waterhouse, Ernst & Young and others ....... to the structure and detail of the draft law” (page 2 of the Draft Limited Liability Partnerships (Jersey) Law 199). Senior members of Jersey government also assured Price Waterhouse senior partner that the Bill will simply be “be nodded through, spend the summer with the Privy Council and be back in Jersey in time to be implemented in the statute book by September” (Accountancy, September 1996, page 29).
The promised ‘fast track’ proved more troublesome. Indeed, the Jersey elite for the first time faced an obstacle. Deputy Gary Matthews, a member of the Jersey States, was puzzled by the rush to pass legislation which most members did not fully understand. Its supporters could not easily explain what the island gained from the Bill, as certainly there was no demand from any local residents. So he sought help and began to ask searching questions about the drafting of legislation, its implications, the economic and political cost to Jersey. His concerns also resonated with a handful of other people and a critical scrutiny of the Bill began to be mobilised, especially as Jersey stood to make little financial gain , but the potential for attracting negative publicity from audit and regulatory failures was great . It also became clear that accountancy firms were not going to shut-up their offices in major UK cities, sack their staff, give up their clients or the lucrative UK markets to move to Jersey. In the event of any dispute, their UK based clients were more likely to opt to have their dispute heard in the UK courts according to UK laws. In any case, the firms intended to conduct their normal business with normal clients in the normal way throughout the UK and any physical move to Jersey without the express approval of each client could be construed as a “sham” designed to disadvantage creditors . It became evident that the firms were looking for “brass plates” or token offices to legitimise appearances . Deputy Matthews’ probing generated an unexpected and unwelcome debate which highlighted the consequences of legislation and it coincided with the visibility of the Cantrade (a subsidiary of Swiss banking giant UBS) scandal in which some $27 million of investors’ savings disappeared. The debate became personalised, a process heightened when an opponent of the LLP Bill Senator Stuart Syvret, a 28 year old cabinet maker complained about the haste with which the Bill was being pushed and alleged that Senator Jeune, participated in the processes leading to the Bill and had an obvious conflict of interest in the passage of the Bill since his firm was involved in its drafting and was indeed acting for Price Waterhouse. Syvret’s allegations were denied and treated as a breach of privilege.
On 3rd September 1996, Senator Syvret, an elected representative of the people, was suspended indefinitely from Jersey States and told to make a full apology in writing. This he stoutly refused to do and as a consequence his constituents were denied any representation in Parliament and his mail was opened by the Jersey authorities. Instead of being silenced, Syvret widened and internationalised the argument by giving a critical interview to the Wall Street Journal and BBC Television (BBC2, Newsnight Programme, 14 November 1996) and by seeking help from UK MPs and accounting academics and by going to London to see them and the then Shadow Home Secretary Jack Straw. The unjust way he had been treated was condemned in House of Commons by an Early Day Motion, sponsored by Austin Mitchell MP, which pointed out that his indefinite suspension was an unheard of and unjustifiable deprivation of his human rights as a legislator. It demanded his reinstatement and received 57 signatures.
British government so keen to defend human rights in other jurisdictions did not want to do anything. The UK Ministers stuck unwaveringly to the non-interference line even when reminded that Britain was responsible for “good government” and its spokesperson criticised the lack of human rights in other jurisdictions. But at their own door-step the then Home Secretary Michael Howard and his deputy Lady Blatch refused to act and restore elected representatives to their rightful place. Publicly, at least, the Jersey establishment had little to fear from Britain since the then Conservative government was determined not to interfere. However, the Early Day Motion (with the possibility of the issues being raised in European Parliament and even the United Nations) threatened the carefully cultivated democratic image of the island. Despite reassurances from Shandwicks (a Public Relations firm used by Jersey States, see below) that Mitchell was a “maverick”, Jersey establishment was nervous. On 4th March 1997, Senator Stuart Syvret was grudgingly readmitted to Jersey States, without apology and without any explanation but still subject to censure. Syvret subsequently brought a lawsuit against the Bailiff for unlawful exclusion, violation of human rights and interfering with rights as an elected representative of the people, amongst other charges. His action is being assisted by local Advocate Philip Sinel, a known critic of the regime, especially its handling of the Cantrade affair . Sinel is acting on a pro bono basis even though Battanier, Peter Mourant of Mourant du Feu & Jeune has decided that Syvret is not eligible for this and must spend his time on more deserving cases. He risks having his licence to practice revoked. The initial verdict in the Jersey Royal Court has gone against Syvret as the judge ruled that the Jersey legislature was immune from action because it provided its own remedies. Judge Michael Beloff awarded Crown costs of £40,000 against Syvret, raising the shadow of bankruptcy. Syvret’s intention is to pursue the matter through the Jersey Court of Appeal and Privy Council before taking the case to the European Court where a file marked ‘Syvret v United Kingdom’ has already been opened.
The ‘fast tracking’ of the LLP Bill, international visibility and the suspension of Senator Syvret prompted the appointment of a Committee of Inquiry under the Chairmanship of Senator Shenton . Its membership consisted entirely of the supporters of the Bill and it criticised (report published on 17th March 1997) ‘fast tracking’ of the Bill, Senator Horsfall and failure to provide background papers to Jersey Parliament. In the 1996 elections, Jersey Evening Post ran a “don’t rock the boat” campaign and several ‘business’ candidates were fielded against Deputy Gary Matthews. Whilst the Jersey establishment let ‘outsiders’ draft the Bill, Matthews was attached by Senator Horsfall for going outside the island for advice (Jersey Evening Post, 19 June 1996, p. 17). His family was threatened, his business suffered. He lost his seat in Parliament and left the island. Though the Shenton report vindicated some of his concerns, it did not say anything about the election campaign against Deputy Mathews. One Senator claimed that the report’s findings “discredit the manner in which the election was fought” (Jersey Evening Post, 18 March 1997, p. 3)
The Jersey LLP legislation completed its Parliamentary passage several months behind schedule, receiving Royal Assent on 19th November 1996, acquiring the status of Law (or an Act) on 10th January 1997. However, it could not be fully implemented because it did not contain any provisions for dealing with insolvency of accountancy firms. After further consultations with accountancy firms, these provisions were rushed through (as secondary legislation) on 19th May and the Law is expected to come into effect in September 1998 . Yet the expected flood of accountancy firms seeking a refuge in Jersey shows no sign of materialising though Ernst & Young periodically threaten to go . The UK government has bowed to the pressures from the accountancy firms and a LLP Bill has been published (September 1998). With the help of Jersey, accountancy firms have secured concessiosn from the British people. Which pirate state will they use next?
Sunday, 18 December 2011
THE PROMISE OF A KING
Jesus is coming soon, just as he promised.
In England we have a Queen, and she sits on the UK throne, but she is also a Christian, and looks forward, as other Christians do, to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Redeemer.
The reign of Jesus Christ will be like no other monarch's reign, because it will be for ever, in justice and peace.
When Jesus was born, angels filled the sky and sang for joy.
When Jesus was murdered, by the men he had come to redeem, the sky darkened, and an earthquake ripped the Temple curtain which had seperated God from man, which meant that all men could speak to God, not through a go between priest any more, but directly to Jesus Christ.
Thinks about it for a moment. What an amazing thing that is. We are microscopic little ants, in a vast universe - yet we can actually speak to God!
Love came down at Christmastime. Blessed are those who believe.
MUSIC FROM A MORE INNOCENT AGE - THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST
I remember when everyone seemed to really look forward to these national events, such as the Eurovision Song Contest. This was a time when most people in Britain had never been abroad, not even to France, and Spain was seen as a really exotic place, in fact, if anyone was going to Spain they might as well have said they were going to the Moon, but now people nip abroad all the time.
Anyway, here are some of the songs from Eurovision. Hope you enjoy them.
Anyway, here are some of the songs from Eurovision. Hope you enjoy them.
DAWN RAIDS BY THE POLICE - I THOUGHT THEY WERE ONLY SUPPOSED TO USE DAWN RAIDS FOR TERRORISTS!
"Lucy Panton, 37, was arrested in Surrey by Operation Elveden detectives probing alleged police corruption.
She was arrested at 06:15 GMT and held at a south London police station before being bailed until late April.
Operation Elveden is running alongside the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking."
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=lucy%20panton%2C%2037%2C%20was%20arrested%20in%20surrey%20by%20operation%20elveden%20detectives%20probing%20alleged%20police%20corruption.&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld-16195863&ei=osftTurwJoiE8gO02YmACg&usg=AFQjCNEJod-jacVbVH9VKk16J4IXtL8Rpw&sig2=-Y0vJPs9DfxaDqUJekKW_A
I don't think anyone would criticise the police for dawn raids such as the one below, to stop drug dealers poisoning our children
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dawn%20raid%20police%20guidelines&source=web&cd=23&ved=0CDEQFjACOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peterboroughtoday.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fpolice_warning_to_drug_dealers_after_seven_arrests_in_raids_across_peterborough_1_3337688&ei=7cjtTunxF8n68QOwgq3vCQ&usg=AFQjCNFu3nBvxW1U9JXgt9b1FqircnOn4w&sig2=HvvvAnmip6sGKYdbzUjGLw
But when the police are allowing themselves to be manouvered into banging aggressivly on the doors of people who have upset the international paedophile gangsters, ie Lucy Panton, Stuart Syvret, terrifying their children, trashing their homes, siezing their computers, then I think that they are not using the Terrorism Act in an appropriate way at all.
I think the police ought to make very sure that the people who are pushing them into banging on peoples doors are not members of the international paedophile gang who are preying on children all over Europe and causing mayhem.
The police did some good work during Operation Ore and Operation Rectange and all the other institutional Pindown abuse investigations. The problem is, the police underestimated the devious nature of paedophiles. They simply did not understand just how crafty and malicious and utterly ruthless kidfiddlers are.
The Police of all the forces all over the UK ought to read THE APPALLING VISTA by Brian Rothery as part of their training of anti child abuse. By reading that book they might understand just how crafty and evil paedoiphiles are. In that book they will learn all about how the Orees conned everyone. They will discover the Nigel Oldfield (the disgusting creepy vile pig who was on Mothers for Justice attacking me for praying for victims of the secret family courts and for posting the truth about Richard Gardner and Ralph Underwager, the two American paedo psychologists who influenced the secret fami9ly courts) was involved in getting the Orees off, they will read how the Orees are laughing and sneering at the Police, they will read that Brian Rothery thinks its ok to take pictures of nude children (it's artistic apparently) and they will read how the Orees think the Pindown victims are a load of whining compensation seekers.
I think the Police need to stop letting evil people leading them by the nose. Stop doing dawn raids on whistleblowers, and start arresting the wicked members of horrible organisations that abuse children instead.
She was arrested at 06:15 GMT and held at a south London police station before being bailed until late April.
Operation Elveden is running alongside the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking."
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=lucy%20panton%2C%2037%2C%20was%20arrested%20in%20surrey%20by%20operation%20elveden%20detectives%20probing%20alleged%20police%20corruption.&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fworld-16195863&ei=osftTurwJoiE8gO02YmACg&usg=AFQjCNEJod-jacVbVH9VKk16J4IXtL8Rpw&sig2=-Y0vJPs9DfxaDqUJekKW_A
I don't think anyone would criticise the police for dawn raids such as the one below, to stop drug dealers poisoning our children
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=dawn%20raid%20police%20guidelines&source=web&cd=23&ved=0CDEQFjACOBQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peterboroughtoday.co.uk%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fpolice_warning_to_drug_dealers_after_seven_arrests_in_raids_across_peterborough_1_3337688&ei=7cjtTunxF8n68QOwgq3vCQ&usg=AFQjCNFu3nBvxW1U9JXgt9b1FqircnOn4w&sig2=HvvvAnmip6sGKYdbzUjGLw
But when the police are allowing themselves to be manouvered into banging aggressivly on the doors of people who have upset the international paedophile gangsters, ie Lucy Panton, Stuart Syvret, terrifying their children, trashing their homes, siezing their computers, then I think that they are not using the Terrorism Act in an appropriate way at all.
I think the police ought to make very sure that the people who are pushing them into banging on peoples doors are not members of the international paedophile gang who are preying on children all over Europe and causing mayhem.
The police did some good work during Operation Ore and Operation Rectange and all the other institutional Pindown abuse investigations. The problem is, the police underestimated the devious nature of paedophiles. They simply did not understand just how crafty and malicious and utterly ruthless kidfiddlers are.
The Police of all the forces all over the UK ought to read THE APPALLING VISTA by Brian Rothery as part of their training of anti child abuse. By reading that book they might understand just how crafty and evil paedoiphiles are. In that book they will learn all about how the Orees conned everyone. They will discover the Nigel Oldfield (the disgusting creepy vile pig who was on Mothers for Justice attacking me for praying for victims of the secret family courts and for posting the truth about Richard Gardner and Ralph Underwager, the two American paedo psychologists who influenced the secret fami9ly courts) was involved in getting the Orees off, they will read how the Orees are laughing and sneering at the Police, they will read that Brian Rothery thinks its ok to take pictures of nude children (it's artistic apparently) and they will read how the Orees think the Pindown victims are a load of whining compensation seekers.
I think the Police need to stop letting evil people leading them by the nose. Stop doing dawn raids on whistleblowers, and start arresting the wicked members of horrible organisations that abuse children instead.
Saturday, 17 December 2011
OPERATION ELVEDEN AND OPERATION WEETING
15 December 2011 Last updated at 20:10 Share this pageEmail Print Share this page
106ShareFacebookTwitter.Operation Elveden: Ex-crime editor held in police probe Operation Elveden was launched after claims journalists made illegal payments to police officers
The former crime editor at the now defunct News of the World newspaper, who was arrested over alleged payments to police officers, has been bailed.
Lucy Panton, 37, was arrested in Surrey by Operation Elveden detectives probing alleged police corruption.
She was arrested at 06:15 GMT and held at a south London police station before being bailed until late April.
Operation Elveden is running alongside the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking.
A BBC correspondent has witnessed bags of evidence and papers being seized from Ms Panton's home in Ashtead, Surrey, although officers there would not confirm they were from Operation Elveden.
It is the seventh arrest for the police operation into alleged police corruption.
Operation Weeting, which is investigating hacking of mobile phone voicemails of public figures by the News of the World, has resulted in 16 arrests.
Operation Elveden was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting journalists working for News International had made illegal payments to police officers.
Allegations of phone hacking and police payments led Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates to resign, and the News of the World to close down after 168 years.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a woman had been arrested "on suspicion of committing offences involving making payments to police officers for information".
"She was arrested at a residential address in Surrey and has been taken to a south London police station where she remains in custody," he added.
More on This Story
Related Internet linksMetropolitan Police
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***************************************************
Operation Elveden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Elveden is a British police investigation.[1] It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.[2]
According to the Metropolitan Police website, Operation Elveden is an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police.[3] It is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.[4]
The investigation is led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers of the Metropolitan Police Service,[2] who is also leading Operation Weeting and Operation Tuleta. The service's Directorate of Professional Standards is also involved in the investigation.[2] The Elveden suspects are given numbers to identify them.[2]
[edit] Arrests
As of the 15 December 2011 seven arrests have been made.[5][6] These include a journalist who works for News International was arrested and taken to a south west London police station on 4 November 2011.[7] He was later identified by the media as Jamie Pyatt of the Sun[8][9]
[edit] References
1.^ "Statement from Commissioner". Metropolitan Police Service. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
2.^ a b c d "Met chief: phone-hacking documents point to 'inappropriate payments'". The Guardian. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
3.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police Service. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
4.^ "Phone hack victims could number 4,000 confirm Met Police". Channel 4 News. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-00.
5.^ "Operation Elveden: Woman held in police payments probe". BBC News. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
6.^ "Operation Elveden arrest". Metropolitan police. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
7.^ "Man held in inquiry into payments to police". BBC News. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
8.^ "Police Payments: Sun Reporter Bailed By Met". Sky News. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
9.^ [1]
See also
Operation Weeting
Operation Tuleta
Operation Rubicon
Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)
[edit] External links
Operation Elveden collected news and commentary from The Independent
***************************************************************
Operation Weeting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Weeting is a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011,[1] under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service[2] into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair.[3][4] The operation is being conducted alongside Operation Elveden, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking,[5] and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World.[6] All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate.[7]
In August 2006, the News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.[8] On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively.[9] On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson had resigned as editor of the News of the World. In 2007, that appeared to be the end of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal.
In July 2009, The Guardian newspaper published a series of allegations[10] that a culture of phone hacking went far beyond the single case of Goodman and Mulcaire's hacking of the royal household. It was alleged that a much wider range of people across different areas of public life, including the former deputy prime minister John Prescott,[11] the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, politicians Tessa Jowell and Boris Johnson,[12] publicist Max Clifford and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the World's sister paper The Sun.[13] had been the victim of hacking ordered by the News of the World. The News of the World and its parent News Corporation strongly denied the allegations, and called on The Guardian to share any evidence it had with the police.[14][15] In the wake of the allegations, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Paul Stephenson asked the force's Assistant Commissioner John Yates to review the original 2006 investigation in the light of any new evidence, with regards to potentially reopening the investigation. In a single 8-hour meeting, Yates decided not to take any further action.[16]
In the wake of the police deciding not to instigate legal proceedings, several public figures who had allegedly been hacked began litigation proceedings against the News of the World's owner News International, and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew, actress Sienna Miller, actor Steve Coogan, television presenter Chris Tarrant and football pundit Andy Gray.[17] In the course of one of these litigation proceedings, that brought by Sienna Miller, papers lodged in the High Court suggested that Ian Edmondson, a senior editor at the News of the World, was involved in work undertaken by Mulcaire.[18] In the wake of this new evidence, News International group general manager Will Lewis was tasked with reviewing any documents relating to the 2006 Goodman case within the company's records and files. This review led Lewis to also re-examine all documents held by the legal firm Harbottle & Lewis, who had defended News International against an unfair dismissal case brought by Clive Goodman in 2007, in which he discovered questionable material. Lewis passed this material to a second legal firm, Hickman Rose, who in turn asked the former Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald to examine the evidence and report his findings to the News International board. Macdonald's report found evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime, which led Macdonald to recommend that the company immediately referred the matter to the police; News International did.[19][20]
The Crown Prosecution Service announced an immediate review of the evidence collected during the Metropolitan Police's original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World,[21] before the Metropolitan Police announced on 26 January 2011 that it was launching Operation Weeting, a new and fresh investigation into the entire phone hacking affair.[22]
[edit] Scope
In its initial months of existence, Operation Weeting had around 45 officers working on it.[23] In a report to Parliament on 20 July 2011, the Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons recommended that additional resources be made available to the operation in order to speed up its progress;[24] later the same day, the Metropolitan Police announced that the number of officers assigned to Weeting was to be increased to its current level of 60.[25]
It is believed that around 3,000 people may have had their phones hacked,[26] a figure that was confirmed by DAC Akers at an evidence session of the Home Affairs Select Committee on 12 July 2011. At the same evidence session, Akers confirmed the police have contacted only 170 of the 3,870 people named in Glenn Mulcaire's files to date.[27] There were 11,000 pages of the evidence[27] with 5,000 landline phone numbers and 4,000 mobile phone numbers.[28] on them inside the so-called "Glenn Mulcaire files".[27]
During the investigations, documentation provided to Operation Weeting suggested that some police personnel may have accepted "inappropriate payments" from news organisations in return for classified information. As a result, the Metropolitan Police Service opened an additional investigation, Operation Elveden, which is also being led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Akers.[1][29]
[edit] Arrests
As of 7 December 2011, 18 people have been arrested as part of Operation Weeting[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] They are:
Neville Thurlbeck [A], News of the World chief reporter. Thurlbeck was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[39] Thurlbeck was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September.[40]
Ian Edmondson [B], former News of the World News Editor. Edmondson was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[39] He was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September.[40]
James Weatherup [C], a News of the World assistant news editor. Weatherup was arrested on 14 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[41] Weatherup was bailed later the same day, and is due to return in September.[42]
Terenia Taras, freelance journalist. Taras was arrested and bailed on 23 June 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. She is due to report back to a police station in October.[43][44]
Laura Elston [E], a Press Association royal correspondent. Elston was arrested on 27 June 2011 on suspicion of intercepting communications, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000, before being bailed to return in October. Elston's bail was cancelled on 18 July when she was informed that no further action would be taken against her.[45]
Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor and former Downing Street Communications Director. Coulson was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.[46] Coulson was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return to police in October.[47]
Clive Goodman, a former News of the World royal editor who had previously been jailed in January 2007 for intercepting voicemail messages of members of the royal household. Goodman was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.[48] He was bailed on the same day, and is scheduled to return in October.[47]
An unidentified 63-year-old man who was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. He was bailed the following day, and is due to return in October.[47]
Neil Wallis, a former News of the World deputy editor. Wallis was arrested on 14 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[49] He was bailed on the same day to return in November.[50]
Rebekah Brooks, News International chief executive and former News of the World editor. Brooks was arrested on 17 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. She was bailed that evening until October.[51]
Stuart Kuttner, former News of the World managing editor. Kuttner was arrested on 2 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[31] He was initially released under police bail until the end of the month but was taken into custody again on 30 August and bailed until an unspecified date in September.[52]
Greg Miskiw, former News of the World news desk editor. Miskiw was arrested on 10 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[32] He was bailed the following day to return in October.[53]
James Desborough, News of the World US editor. Desborough was arrested on 18 August 2011.[33]
A 35 year old man believed to be Dan Evans, a former reporter for News of the World, was arrested on 19 August 2011.[34]
A 30 year old man, whom The Guardian identified as Ross Hall, a former reporter for News of the World who wrote under the pen name of Ross Hindley,[54] was arrested on 2 September 2011. He was bailed the same day to return in mid-January 2012.[35]
A 35 year old man was arrested in an early morning raid on 7 September 2011[36] on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[55] He was bailed the same day until an unspecified date in October. The BBC identified the man as Raoul Simons, a journalist who worked for the Evening Standard and later as the deputy football editor of The Times.[56]
A 31 year old woman was arrested on 30 November 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977. The media identifed her as Bethany Usher, a former journalist at News of the World and The People.[37] On 8 December 2011 the police announced that they would take no further action against the woman.[57]
A 41 year old man was arrested on 7 December 2011 "on suspicion of conspiring to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of perverting the course of justice contrary to common law."[38] Media sources have identified him as the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.[58]
[edit] Independent review
On 15 September 2011, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Bernard Hogan-Howe, announced that he had requested that Durham police carry out an independent review of the evidence collected by Operation Weeting. Hogan-Howe said that he had asked the team, lead by Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart, "to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are."[59]
[edit] See also
Operation Elveden
Operation Tuleta
Operation Rubicon
Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)
[edit] References
1.^ a b "Statement from Commissioner". Metropolitan Police Service. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
2.^ PA (9 February 2011). "New angle in phone hacking probe". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
3.^ Wesley Johnson (6 July 2011). "Ex-phone hacking probe officer to face MPs". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
4.^ "McCann's spokesman talks to police in phone hacking probe". Leicester Mercury. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
5.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
6.^ "Metropolitan Police starts computer hacking probe". BBC. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
7.^ "Statement regarding Operation Weeting". Metropolitan Police. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
8.^ "Two charged in 'phone-tap' probe". BBC News. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
9.^ "Pair jailed over royal phone taps". BBC News. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
10.^ Davies, Nick (8 July 2009). "Trail of hacking and deceit under nose of Tory PR chief". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
11.^ "Prescott calls for hacking probe". BBC News. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
12.^ Davies, Nick (1 February 2010). "News of the World pair hacked into 100 mobile accounts". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
13.^ "Stars 'may sue' over phone claims". BBC News. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
14.^ "No inquiries, No charges, No evidence". News of the World (newsoftheworld.co.uk). 12 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
15.^ "News International Statement on Guardian Article". News Corporation (newscorp.com). 10 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
16.^ "Statement from AC John Yates". Metropolitan Police (met.police.uk). 9 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
17.^ "Phone hacking probe: Key people". BBC News. 27 December 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
18.^ Davies, Nick (15 December 2010). "Phone hacking approved by top News of the World executive – new files". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
19.^ Glen Owen (19 July 2011). "Why did Prince William's lawyers hide hacking evidence? Firm that advises Royals entangled in row over 'cover up'". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved 17 July 2011.
20.^ Robert Peston (10 July 2011). "News International found 'smoking gun' e-mails in 2007". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
21.^ "Prosecutor orders review of phone-hacking evidence". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 15 January 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
22.^ "New investigation regarding alleged phone hacking". Metropolitan Police. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
23.^ Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman (24 June 2011). "Freelance reporter held in phone-hacking investigation". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 2011-07-06.
24.^ Home Affairs Select Committee (2011), Unauthorised tapping into or hacking of mobile communications, p. 60, retrieved 2011-07-20
25.^ "Phone hacking: Scotland Yard boosts probe team". BBC News. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
26.^ Rebecca Camber and Stephen Wright (10 February 2011). "Up to 3,000 may have been victims of phone hacking". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
27.^ a b c Hélène Mulholland, Alan Travis and Vikram Dodd (12 July 2011). "Thousands of hacking victims yet to be contacted, says Met's Sue Akers | Media | guardian.co.uk". Guardian (UK). Retrieved 12 July 2011.
28.^ Channel 4 News – News International failed to co-operate
29.^ Siddique, Haroon (6 July 2011). "Met chief: phone-hacking documents point to 'inappropriate payments'". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
30.^ "Timeline of phone-hacking arrests". The Guardian (UK). 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
31.^ a b Amelia Hill (2 August 2011). "Phone Hacking: Stuart Kuttner arrested". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 August 2011.
32.^ a b "New arrest in phone-hacking inquiry". BBC News. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
33.^ a b "Phone hacking: Reports of James Desborough arrest". BBC News. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
34.^ a b "Phone hacking: Police officer arrested over leaks". BBC News. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
35.^ a b "Phone hacking: Man bailed in News of the World probe". BBC News. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
36.^ a b Weir, Keith (7 September 2011). "UPDATE 1-UK police make new arrest in phone hacking case". Reuters. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
37.^ a b "Phone hacking: Woman held in media probe". BBC News. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
38.^ a b Josh Halliday (7 December 2011). "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
39.^ a b "Two arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages". Metropolitan Police. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
40.^ a b Hill, Amelia; Davies, Nick; Dodd, Vikram (6 April 2011). "Phone hacking: two News of the World journalists arrested". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
41.^ "Arrest in phone hacking investigation". Metropolitan Police. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
42.^ "News of the World journalist arrested in hacking probe". BBC News. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
43.^ "Woman arrested by officers investigating phone hacking". Metropolitan Police. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
44.^ "Operation Weeting latest: Woman bailed". Metropolitan Police. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
45.^ "Bailed cancelled for woman". Metropolitan Police. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
46.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
47.^ a b c "Three bailed following Operation Weeting and Elveden arrests". Metropolitan Police. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
48.^ "Further arrest in connection with allegations of corruption". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
49.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking allegations". Metropolitan Police. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
50.^ Morgan, Tom (14 July 2011). "Andy Coulson's deputy Neil Wallis arrested". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
51.^ "Rebekah Brooks arrested by hacking police". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
52.^ James Robinson (30 August 2011). "Phone hacking: NoW's former managing editor answers police bail". Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 September 2011.
53.^ Josh Halliday (11 August 2011). "Phone hacking: NoW's Greg Miskiw released on bail". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 11 August 2011.
54.^ James Robinson (2 September 2011). "Phone-hacking scandal: reporter linked to the 'for Neville' email arrested". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 5 September 2011.
55.^ Sandra Laville (7 September 2011). "Phone hacking: police make another arrest". Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 September 2011.
56.^ "Phone hacking police bail sports writer Raoul Simons". BBC News. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
57.^ Lisa O'Carroll (8 December 2011). "Former News of the World journalist to face no further action, say police". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
58.^ "Glenn Mulcaire 'arrested in phone-hacking probe'". BBC News. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
59.^ Sandra Laville (15 September 2011). "Phone hacking: Durham police called in to review evidence". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
[edit] External links
Operation Weeting collected news and commentary from The Independent
Statement from Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, 6 July 2011
106ShareFacebookTwitter.Operation Elveden: Ex-crime editor held in police probe Operation Elveden was launched after claims journalists made illegal payments to police officers
The former crime editor at the now defunct News of the World newspaper, who was arrested over alleged payments to police officers, has been bailed.
Lucy Panton, 37, was arrested in Surrey by Operation Elveden detectives probing alleged police corruption.
She was arrested at 06:15 GMT and held at a south London police station before being bailed until late April.
Operation Elveden is running alongside the Operation Weeting investigation into phone hacking.
A BBC correspondent has witnessed bags of evidence and papers being seized from Ms Panton's home in Ashtead, Surrey, although officers there would not confirm they were from Operation Elveden.
It is the seventh arrest for the police operation into alleged police corruption.
Operation Weeting, which is investigating hacking of mobile phone voicemails of public figures by the News of the World, has resulted in 16 arrests.
Operation Elveden was launched after officers were handed documents suggesting journalists working for News International had made illegal payments to police officers.
Allegations of phone hacking and police payments led Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates to resign, and the News of the World to close down after 168 years.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman said a woman had been arrested "on suspicion of committing offences involving making payments to police officers for information".
"She was arrested at a residential address in Surrey and has been taken to a south London police station where she remains in custody," he added.
Related Internet linksMetropolitan Police
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external Internet sites
***************************************************
Operation Elveden
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Elveden is a British police investigation.[1] It was opened as a result of documents provided by News International to the Operation Weeting investigation.[2]
According to the Metropolitan Police website, Operation Elveden is an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to police.[3] It is being supervised by the Independent Police Complaints Commission.[4]
The investigation is led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers of the Metropolitan Police Service,[2] who is also leading Operation Weeting and Operation Tuleta. The service's Directorate of Professional Standards is also involved in the investigation.[2] The Elveden suspects are given numbers to identify them.[2]
[edit] Arrests
As of the 15 December 2011 seven arrests have been made.[5][6] These include a journalist who works for News International was arrested and taken to a south west London police station on 4 November 2011.[7] He was later identified by the media as Jamie Pyatt of the Sun[8][9]
[edit] References
1.^ "Statement from Commissioner". Metropolitan Police Service. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
2.^ a b c d "Met chief: phone-hacking documents point to 'inappropriate payments'". The Guardian. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-07.
3.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police Service. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
4.^ "Phone hack victims could number 4,000 confirm Met Police". Channel 4 News. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-00.
5.^ "Operation Elveden: Woman held in police payments probe". BBC News. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
6.^ "Operation Elveden arrest". Metropolitan police. 15 December 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2011.
7.^ "Man held in inquiry into payments to police". BBC News. 4 November 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
8.^ "Police Payments: Sun Reporter Bailed By Met". Sky News. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2011.
9.^ [1]
See also
Operation Weeting
Operation Tuleta
Operation Rubicon
Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)
[edit] External links
Operation Elveden collected news and commentary from The Independent
***************************************************************
Operation Weeting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Operation Weeting is a British police investigation that commenced on 26 January 2011,[1] under the Specialist Crime Directorate of the Metropolitan Police Service[2] into allegations of phone hacking in the News of the World phone hacking affair.[3][4] The operation is being conducted alongside Operation Elveden, an investigation into allegations of inappropriate payments to the police by those involved with phone hacking,[5] and Operation Tuleta, an investigation into alleged computer hacking for the News of the World.[6] All three operations are led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Sue Akers, Head of Organised Crime & Criminal Networks within the Specialist Crime Directorate.[7]
In August 2006, the News of the World's royal editor, Clive Goodman and a private investigator, Glenn Mulcaire, were arrested by the Metropolitan Police, and later charged with hacking the telephones of members of the royal family by accessing voicemail messages, an offence under section 79 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.[8] On 26 January 2007, both Goodman and Mulcaire pleaded guilty to the charges and were sentenced to four and six months imprisonment respectively.[9] On the same day, it was announced that Andy Coulson had resigned as editor of the News of the World. In 2007, that appeared to be the end of the News of the World royal phone hacking scandal.
In July 2009, The Guardian newspaper published a series of allegations[10] that a culture of phone hacking went far beyond the single case of Goodman and Mulcaire's hacking of the royal household. It was alleged that a much wider range of people across different areas of public life, including the former deputy prime minister John Prescott,[11] the Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, politicians Tessa Jowell and Boris Johnson,[12] publicist Max Clifford and even Rebekah Brooks, then editor of the News of the World's sister paper The Sun.[13] had been the victim of hacking ordered by the News of the World. The News of the World and its parent News Corporation strongly denied the allegations, and called on The Guardian to share any evidence it had with the police.[14][15] In the wake of the allegations, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Paul Stephenson asked the force's Assistant Commissioner John Yates to review the original 2006 investigation in the light of any new evidence, with regards to potentially reopening the investigation. In a single 8-hour meeting, Yates decided not to take any further action.[16]
In the wake of the police deciding not to instigate legal proceedings, several public figures who had allegedly been hacked began litigation proceedings against the News of the World's owner News International, and against the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. Those who began legal action included the football agent Sky Andrew, actress Sienna Miller, actor Steve Coogan, television presenter Chris Tarrant and football pundit Andy Gray.[17] In the course of one of these litigation proceedings, that brought by Sienna Miller, papers lodged in the High Court suggested that Ian Edmondson, a senior editor at the News of the World, was involved in work undertaken by Mulcaire.[18] In the wake of this new evidence, News International group general manager Will Lewis was tasked with reviewing any documents relating to the 2006 Goodman case within the company's records and files. This review led Lewis to also re-examine all documents held by the legal firm Harbottle & Lewis, who had defended News International against an unfair dismissal case brought by Clive Goodman in 2007, in which he discovered questionable material. Lewis passed this material to a second legal firm, Hickman Rose, who in turn asked the former Director of Public Prosecutions Ken Macdonald to examine the evidence and report his findings to the News International board. Macdonald's report found evidence of indirect hacking, breaches of national security and serious crime, which led Macdonald to recommend that the company immediately referred the matter to the police; News International did.[19][20]
The Crown Prosecution Service announced an immediate review of the evidence collected during the Metropolitan Police's original investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World,[21] before the Metropolitan Police announced on 26 January 2011 that it was launching Operation Weeting, a new and fresh investigation into the entire phone hacking affair.[22]
[edit] Scope
In its initial months of existence, Operation Weeting had around 45 officers working on it.[23] In a report to Parliament on 20 July 2011, the Home Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons recommended that additional resources be made available to the operation in order to speed up its progress;[24] later the same day, the Metropolitan Police announced that the number of officers assigned to Weeting was to be increased to its current level of 60.[25]
It is believed that around 3,000 people may have had their phones hacked,[26] a figure that was confirmed by DAC Akers at an evidence session of the Home Affairs Select Committee on 12 July 2011. At the same evidence session, Akers confirmed the police have contacted only 170 of the 3,870 people named in Glenn Mulcaire's files to date.[27] There were 11,000 pages of the evidence[27] with 5,000 landline phone numbers and 4,000 mobile phone numbers.[28] on them inside the so-called "Glenn Mulcaire files".[27]
During the investigations, documentation provided to Operation Weeting suggested that some police personnel may have accepted "inappropriate payments" from news organisations in return for classified information. As a result, the Metropolitan Police Service opened an additional investigation, Operation Elveden, which is also being led by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Akers.[1][29]
[edit] Arrests
As of 7 December 2011, 18 people have been arrested as part of Operation Weeting[30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] They are:
Neville Thurlbeck [A], News of the World chief reporter. Thurlbeck was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[39] Thurlbeck was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September.[40]
Ian Edmondson [B], former News of the World News Editor. Edmondson was arrested on 5 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[39] He was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return in September.[40]
James Weatherup [C], a News of the World assistant news editor. Weatherup was arrested on 14 April 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and unlawful interception of voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000.[41] Weatherup was bailed later the same day, and is due to return in September.[42]
Terenia Taras, freelance journalist. Taras was arrested and bailed on 23 June 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977. She is due to report back to a police station in October.[43][44]
Laura Elston [E], a Press Association royal correspondent. Elston was arrested on 27 June 2011 on suspicion of intercepting communications, contrary to Section 1 of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000, before being bailed to return in October. Elston's bail was cancelled on 18 July when she was informed that no further action would be taken against her.[45]
Andy Coulson, a former News of the World editor and former Downing Street Communications Director. Coulson was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.[46] Coulson was released on bail later the same day, and is due to return to police in October.[47]
Clive Goodman, a former News of the World royal editor who had previously been jailed in January 2007 for intercepting voicemail messages of members of the royal household. Goodman was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906.[48] He was bailed on the same day, and is scheduled to return in October.[47]
An unidentified 63-year-old man who was arrested on 8 July 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. He was bailed the following day, and is due to return in October.[47]
Neil Wallis, a former News of the World deputy editor. Wallis was arrested on 14 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[49] He was bailed on the same day to return in November.[50]
Rebekah Brooks, News International chief executive and former News of the World editor. Brooks was arrested on 17 July 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977, and of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906. She was bailed that evening until October.[51]
Stuart Kuttner, former News of the World managing editor. Kuttner was arrested on 2 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[31] He was initially released under police bail until the end of the month but was taken into custody again on 30 August and bailed until an unspecified date in September.[52]
Greg Miskiw, former News of the World news desk editor. Miskiw was arrested on 10 August 2011 on suspicion of corruption, contrary to Section 1 of the Prevention of Corruption Act 1906 and on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[32] He was bailed the following day to return in October.[53]
James Desborough, News of the World US editor. Desborough was arrested on 18 August 2011.[33]
A 35 year old man believed to be Dan Evans, a former reporter for News of the World, was arrested on 19 August 2011.[34]
A 30 year old man, whom The Guardian identified as Ross Hall, a former reporter for News of the World who wrote under the pen name of Ross Hindley,[54] was arrested on 2 September 2011. He was bailed the same day to return in mid-January 2012.[35]
A 35 year old man was arrested in an early morning raid on 7 September 2011[36] on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.[55] He was bailed the same day until an unspecified date in October. The BBC identified the man as Raoul Simons, a journalist who worked for the Evening Standard and later as the deputy football editor of The Times.[56]
A 31 year old woman was arrested on 30 November 2011 on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications, contrary to the Criminal Law Act 1977. The media identifed her as Bethany Usher, a former journalist at News of the World and The People.[37] On 8 December 2011 the police announced that they would take no further action against the woman.[57]
A 41 year old man was arrested on 7 December 2011 "on suspicion of conspiring to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) Criminal Law Act 1977 and on suspicion of perverting the course of justice contrary to common law."[38] Media sources have identified him as the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire.[58]
[edit] Independent review
On 15 September 2011, the newly appointed Commissioner of the Metropolitan police, Bernard Hogan-Howe, announced that he had requested that Durham police carry out an independent review of the evidence collected by Operation Weeting. Hogan-Howe said that he had asked the team, lead by Durham chief constable Jon Stoddart, "to have a look at the inquiry to reassure us we are going in the right direction and I think we are."[59]
[edit] See also
Operation Elveden
Operation Tuleta
Operation Rubicon
Operation Motorman (ICO investigation)
[edit] References
1.^ a b "Statement from Commissioner". Metropolitan Police Service. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
2.^ PA (9 February 2011). "New angle in phone hacking probe". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
3.^ Wesley Johnson (6 July 2011). "Ex-phone hacking probe officer to face MPs". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
4.^ "McCann's spokesman talks to police in phone hacking probe". Leicester Mercury. 6 July 2011. Retrieved 6 July 2011.
5.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
6.^ "Metropolitan Police starts computer hacking probe". BBC. 30 July 2011. Retrieved 1 August 2011.
7.^ "Statement regarding Operation Weeting". Metropolitan Police. 7 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
8.^ "Two charged in 'phone-tap' probe". BBC News. 9 August 2006. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
9.^ "Pair jailed over royal phone taps". BBC News. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
10.^ Davies, Nick (8 July 2009). "Trail of hacking and deceit under nose of Tory PR chief". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
11.^ "Prescott calls for hacking probe". BBC News. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
12.^ Davies, Nick (1 February 2010). "News of the World pair hacked into 100 mobile accounts". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
13.^ "Stars 'may sue' over phone claims". BBC News. 10 July 2009. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
14.^ "No inquiries, No charges, No evidence". News of the World (newsoftheworld.co.uk). 12 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
15.^ "News International Statement on Guardian Article". News Corporation (newscorp.com). 10 July 2009. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
16.^ "Statement from AC John Yates". Metropolitan Police (met.police.uk). 9 July 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
17.^ "Phone hacking probe: Key people". BBC News. 27 December 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
18.^ Davies, Nick (15 December 2010). "Phone hacking approved by top News of the World executive – new files". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
19.^ Glen Owen (19 July 2011). "Why did Prince William's lawyers hide hacking evidence? Firm that advises Royals entangled in row over 'cover up'". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved 17 July 2011.
20.^ Robert Peston (10 July 2011). "News International found 'smoking gun' e-mails in 2007". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
21.^ "Prosecutor orders review of phone-hacking evidence". The Spy Report (Media Spy). 15 January 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
22.^ "New investigation regarding alleged phone hacking". Metropolitan Police. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
23.^ Cahal Milmo and Martin Hickman (24 June 2011). "Freelance reporter held in phone-hacking investigation". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 2011-07-06.
24.^ Home Affairs Select Committee (2011), Unauthorised tapping into or hacking of mobile communications, p. 60, retrieved 2011-07-20
25.^ "Phone hacking: Scotland Yard boosts probe team". BBC News. 20 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
26.^ Rebecca Camber and Stephen Wright (10 February 2011). "Up to 3,000 may have been victims of phone hacking". Daily Mail (UK). Retrieved 6 July 2011.
27.^ a b c Hélène Mulholland, Alan Travis and Vikram Dodd (12 July 2011). "Thousands of hacking victims yet to be contacted, says Met's Sue Akers | Media | guardian.co.uk". Guardian (UK). Retrieved 12 July 2011.
28.^ Channel 4 News – News International failed to co-operate
29.^ Siddique, Haroon (6 July 2011). "Met chief: phone-hacking documents point to 'inappropriate payments'". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 7 July 2011.
30.^ "Timeline of phone-hacking arrests". The Guardian (UK). 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
31.^ a b Amelia Hill (2 August 2011). "Phone Hacking: Stuart Kuttner arrested". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 August 2011.
32.^ a b "New arrest in phone-hacking inquiry". BBC News. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
33.^ a b "Phone hacking: Reports of James Desborough arrest". BBC News. 18 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
34.^ a b "Phone hacking: Police officer arrested over leaks". BBC News. 19 August 2011. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
35.^ a b "Phone hacking: Man bailed in News of the World probe". BBC News. 2 September 2011. Retrieved 2 September 2011.
36.^ a b Weir, Keith (7 September 2011). "UPDATE 1-UK police make new arrest in phone hacking case". Reuters. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
37.^ a b "Phone hacking: Woman held in media probe". BBC News. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
38.^ a b Josh Halliday (7 December 2011). "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
39.^ a b "Two arrested on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting voicemail messages". Metropolitan Police. 5 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
40.^ a b Hill, Amelia; Davies, Nick; Dodd, Vikram (6 April 2011). "Phone hacking: two News of the World journalists arrested". The Guardian (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
41.^ "Arrest in phone hacking investigation". Metropolitan Police. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
42.^ "News of the World journalist arrested in hacking probe". BBC News. 14 April 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
43.^ "Woman arrested by officers investigating phone hacking". Metropolitan Police. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
44.^ "Operation Weeting latest: Woman bailed". Metropolitan Police. 23 June 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
45.^ "Bailed cancelled for woman". Metropolitan Police. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
46.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking and corruption allegations". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
47.^ a b c "Three bailed following Operation Weeting and Elveden arrests". Metropolitan Police. 11 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
48.^ "Further arrest in connection with allegations of corruption". Metropolitan Police. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
49.^ "Man arrested in connection with phone hacking allegations". Metropolitan Police. 14 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
50.^ Morgan, Tom (14 July 2011). "Andy Coulson's deputy Neil Wallis arrested". The Independent (UK). Retrieved 19 July 2011.
51.^ "Rebekah Brooks arrested by hacking police". BBC News. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
52.^ James Robinson (30 August 2011). "Phone hacking: NoW's former managing editor answers police bail". Guardian (London). Retrieved 2 September 2011.
53.^ Josh Halliday (11 August 2011). "Phone hacking: NoW's Greg Miskiw released on bail". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 11 August 2011.
54.^ James Robinson (2 September 2011). "Phone-hacking scandal: reporter linked to the 'for Neville' email arrested". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 5 September 2011.
55.^ Sandra Laville (7 September 2011). "Phone hacking: police make another arrest". Guardian (London). Retrieved 7 September 2011.
56.^ "Phone hacking police bail sports writer Raoul Simons". BBC News. 7 September 2011. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
57.^ Lisa O'Carroll (8 December 2011). "Former News of the World journalist to face no further action, say police". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 December 2011.
58.^ "Glenn Mulcaire 'arrested in phone-hacking probe'". BBC News. 7 December 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
59.^ Sandra Laville (15 September 2011). "Phone hacking: Durham police called in to review evidence". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
[edit] External links
Operation Weeting collected news and commentary from The Independent
Statement from Commissioner, Metropolitan Police, 6 July 2011
THE MURDER OF REV ROBERT BRADFORD
Reverend Robert Bradford was a Methodist church minister and Westminster MP for South Belfast. A deeply religious man, he had entered politics to try and improve the lives of ordinary people suffering at the hands of religiously-motivated IRA terrorism.
On 14th November 1981 Reverend Bradford was holding a clinic for his south Belfast constituents to help them deal with everyday issues like housing, welfare benefits, employment, etc. It was held at a community centre in the Finaghy area at the same time as a children's disco for underprivileged kids from the area.
A gang of IRA gunmen stormed into the building firing shots all around (including towards the young children) and murdered the minister and an innocent caretaker Ken Campbell.
Robert Bradford (Ulster Unionist politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert Bradford, MP In office 1974–1981
Preceded by Rafton Pounder
Succeeded by Martin Smyth
Constituency South Belfast
Personal details
Born 8 June 1941 Limavady, Northern Ireland
Died 14 November 1981 (aged 40) Belfast
Political party
Ulster Unionist Party
Religion Protestant
Robert Jonathan Bradford MP (8 June 1941 – 14 November 1981) was a Vanguard Unionist and Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for the Belfast South constituency in Northern Ireland until he was killed by the Provisional Irish Republican Army on 14 November 1981
Bradford was born on 8 June 1941 to a Belfast family resident in Limavady due to the wartime evacuation. Bradford's father left the family not long after his birth and his mother died so he was raised by foster parents. A talented footballer, Bradford signed for Glenavon F.C. as a teenager and his displays soon attracted the attentions of top English side Sheffield Wednesday F.C, who invited him to a trial. However, Bradford was not signed by the club and returned to Northern Ireland to resume his career with the then Belfast-based club Distillery.
[edit] Religion
Bradford gave up football in 1964, after deciding to train to become a Methodist minister. After spending the rest of the 1960s attached to congregations in East Belfast and Fivemiletown, Bradford was fully ordained in 1970 and given his own parish in the Suffolk area of South-west Belfast. Bradford would later be removed from post in the late 1970s and would spend the final years of his life without a church. During these years he came to spend time in the 'Bible belt' of the United States and became associated with Evangelicalism. Nevertheless Bradford claimed to always remain at heart a Methodist and also rejected suggestions that he was to join Ian Paisley's Free Presbyterian Church (which he never did).
[edit] Political career
Bradford first became involved with unionism in 1971 when he joined the Orange Order. From here he became more involved in the political side of the movement and stood as a candidate for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party in the Northern Ireland Assembly election, 1973 in South Antrim, although he was not elected.
Bradford was first elected as Member of Parliament for South Belfast in the February 1974 British general election, this time under the banner of the United Ulster Unionist Council (an alliance between the Vanguard, the Democratic Unionist Party and the anti-Brian Faulkner Ulster Unionists under Harry West), defeating the sitting MP Rafton Pounder, a pro-Faulkner Unionist. His campaign had been openly supported by the British National Front and, at a September 1974 NF Rally, Martin Webster read out a letter of solidarity from Bradford.[1]
Bradford greatly increased his majority in the October election, after Pounder dropped out, and largely maintained this increased majority in 1979. Between 1974 and 1978 he sat for the Vanguard Progressive Unionist Party until in February 1978 he joined the Ulster Unionist Party (then commonly called the Official Unionist Party), along with Vanguard leader William Craig and most of the membership. He was re-elected in 1979 for the UUP.
[edit] Death
A mural dedicated to Bradford, Oak Street off Belfast's Donegall Pass
Bradford was shot dead - by the IRA on 14 November 1981 in a community centre in Finaghy, Belfast, while hosting a political surgery. Kenneth Campbell, the 29 year old Protestant caretaker in the centre, was also shot dead in the attack.
The Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald made an expression of sympathy in the Dáil Éireann saying: [2]
“I would like to refer to the brutal murder, by the Provisional IRA, of the Reverend Robert Bradford, MP in Belfast on Saturday last. His death and that of Mr. Ken Campbell, caretaker at the Finaghy Community Centre, are part of a calculated series of atrocities committed in recent days. I know that all the people we represent share the sense of sorrow, anger and outrage widely felt in Northern Ireland at present.
The killing of an elected representative of the people calls for particular condemnation in the strongest possible terms and serves to remind us of the real objectives of the organisation responsible. The IRA has once again shown its utter contempt for human life and for the democratic process which it has recently sought to distort for its own ends. Its true attitude to democracy and freedom was summed up in a recent statement of an IRA spokesman who, when asked by an interviewer for a foreign newspaper about the wishes of the people in this part of the country concerning an aspect of reunification, replied, “We call the shots. We don't really give a damn what they want”.
”
His seat was won by Martin Smyth, also of the Ulster Unionists, in a by-election in 1982. A book about Bradford's life, A Sword Bathed in Heaven, was written by his widow, Norah, in 1984, dealing largely with his path to Methodism, although also examining his political career.
[edit] Bibliography
Norah Bradford, A Sword Bathed in Heaven, 1984
[edit] References
1.^ p182, Nigel Fielding, The National Front, Taylor & Francis, 1981, ISBN 0710005598
2.^ Dáil Éireann Parliamentary Debates - Volume 330 - November 17, 1981
[edit] External links
Seanad Éireann (Senate of the Republic of Ireland) passes motion of sympathy on assassination of Rev Robert Bradford MP.
NI Conflict Archive on the Internet
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by
Rafton Pounder
Member of Parliament for Belfast South
1974–1981
Succeeded by
Martin Smyth
*********************************************
I AM ALSO REPUBLISHING THIS
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=rev%20robert%20bradford&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CDEQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.missingpersons-ireland.freepress-freespeech.com%2Frevrobbradford.htm&ei=uLLsTqOTDsLp8QO2te2ECg&usg=AFQjCNFMIQ7EvBS1yRQH-eJolIV3aY90Cw&sig2=Q5dUvduy0ZGFnETdbDIqiQ
Former cleric urges new probe into MP murder
Sunday, April 29, 2007
By Pauline Reynolds
THE former head of the Methodist Church is to ask the Police Ombudsman to investigate the IRA murder 26 years ago of UUP MP Rev Robert Bradford.
Former Methodist president Rev Jim Rea and Belfast councillor Jim Rodgers are due to meet with Nuala O'Loan tomorrow to call for the case to be re-opened following revelations in Sunday Life.
In our story, journalist Greg Harkin sensationally revealed how Special Branch AND Army intelligence knew details of the murder plot THREE days before.
Mr Rodgers also plans to raise the case with the PSNI Historical Enquiries Team.
He described our revelations as "terribly disturbing".
"Some people may think that because Robert was murdered so long ago it doesn't really matter any more," he said.
"But I believe it's important we find out the truth.
"Greg Harkin is a highly respected journalist with very good contacts and I have no reason to doubt his information.
"At the time of his murder, it had been rumoured Robert may have been set up, not by the Special Branch but by British intelligence.
"There were also a number of names put forward suggesting involvement in the killing, but no one has ever been brought to book. We need to get to the bottom of this and put it to rest.
"These claims will obviously have been very upsetting for Robert's wife Nora and the couple's daughter."
Mr Rodgers and Rev Bradford were good friends.
Added the councillor: "We had a lot in common, belonging to the same church and the same political party.
"We appeared on a number of public platforms together and his views and my own would have been very similar.
"He was a person who I held in the highest regard."
.............................................................................
MP could have been saved
MP 'sacrificed to protect agents within ranks of the provisionals'
Sunday, April 15, 2007
In the third part of our explosive series The Special Branch Files, journalist Greg Harkin reveals how a botched undercover operation led to the murder of the Rev Robert Bradford
Shortly before 11.30am on Saturday, November 14, 1981, three armed IRA members carrying ladders and dressed in painters' boilersuits arrived at the community centre at Benmore Drive in Finaghy.
At first their arrival did not arouse suspicion; there was ongoing work at the centre.
One of the gang members, carrying a sub-machine-gun, took up position at the front door.
One of his accomplices shouted "freeze" before opening fire on the caretaker, 29-year-old Kenneth Campbell, who was returning to the centre after a break at his nearby home.
While one of the IRA men pinned an RUC bodyguard to the ground at gunpoint, another gunman quickly turned to the Reverend Robert Bradford, Ulster Unionist MP for South Belfast.
He opened fire, shooting him in the eye, chest, neck and ear.
The 40-year-old father-of-one died instantly.
As the IRA's active service unit (ASU) fled, the RUC officer fired three shots after their getaway car.
It was another horrific day in a blood-spattered year in which 117 people lost their lives in the Troubles - 1981, the year of the hunger strikes.
Today, however, 26 years later, Sunday Life can reveal that neither Rev Bradford nor Mr Campbell should have died in the IRA attack - RUC Special Branch and Army Intelligence had prior knowledge of the incident an incredible THREE DAYS beforehand.
They told neither the Rev Bradford, nor his police protection officer.
Three years ago, a former officer with the shadowy Army intelligence-gathering outfit the Force Research Unit (FRU) contacted me with information on several murders which took place during the Troubles.
He knew of - but did not know - 'Martin Ingram', another former FRU officer.
He hinted at a cover-up in the murder of the Ulster Unionist MP in 1981.
Now, for the first time, he has decided to tell the whole story.
I have since been able to verify these claims with two other sources not known to each other.
"The Rev Bradford was a sitting duck. The IRA had checked out the (community) centre before as a possible venue for a hit," said the source.
"He had certainly been warned that he had to be extra careful when he was there, but the information before the shooting was 100pc certain that an attack would take place that Saturday, November 14.
"This was not a general warning. We had someone in the IRA giving us information on the planned attack.
"I know for a fact that Special Branch also had someone inside giving them the same information."
The ex-officer claims he had spent that weekend expecting to hear about the arrests or shootings of IRA members.
"I couldn't believe it when the MP was taken out along with another civilian," he recalled.
"I made a point of finding out what went wrong. Our lot had put a great deal into this intelligence operation and I know Special Branch did, too.
"All the information was passed up (the chain of command), but nothing happened. I know that teams were prepared by the RUC to intercept the IRA team, but they were still on their way (to Finaghy) when the murders took place. They were too late. It was mind-boggling.
"But they shouldn't have been too late. They (the RUC) knew for three f*****g days what was going to happen, but there was no operation put in place around the IRA team as they set off from Andersonstown, there was no operation put in place around Mr Bradford or his home on the Malone Road, and the operation for the community centre was still leaving the station when the murders took place.
"It defies belief that this could have happened, but it did. Army Intelligence would have had people on the ground the night before, for God's sake."
But how could such a monumental mistake take place?
Branch sources say officers at the time were also furious that the Rev Bradford had not been saved, but put the incident down to poor planning and incompetence rather than any more sinister reason.
The former soldier however said he believed that now was the time for information on the murder to be investigated - believing there could have been other reasons.
"I believe the hit went ahead to save agents' lives," he claimed.
He admitted that he had "no evidence whatsoever" to substantiate this claim, but insisted: "I find it hard to believe any other reason.
"This is not just about Mr Bradford, either. There was also Mr Campbell who died and at least three Catholics were killed by loyalists in retaliation in the days after the killing."
Just hours after the Bradford murder, Stephen Murphy (19) was shot by a UVF gunman as he answered his door in the Oldpark area of north Belfast. He died from his injuries 10 days later.
Thomas McNulty (18) was murdered by the UVF as he walked home in the Short Strand area of east Belfast the day after the Bradford murder.
Two days later, Billy Wright, then UVF leader in Mid-Ulster, shot dead 20-year-old Catholic Peader Fegan in Lurgan.
When the MP and Mr Campbell were shot, children at a kids' disco witnessed the horrific murders.
A 15-year-old DJ described how he threw a chair at one of the killers while shouting at other children to dive for cover.
"The gunmen pushed the children out of the way as they made their way out of the building," he added.
An 11-year-old told reporters afterwards: "They shot the Rev Bradford about six times. We were quite close by. The shots were very loud."
The murders were widely condemned.
TDs in Dail Eireann stood for a minute's silence, but in Northern Ireland there were fears of an all-out civil war.
The SDLP leader, John Hume, said the murder was a deliberate attempt by the IRA to provoke the community into civil conflict.
Unionists reacted with anger. UUP leader James Molyneaux threatened a 'Third Force' if the Secretary of State, Jim Prior, did not announce a 'crackdown' on the paramilitaries.
At the Rev Bradford's funeral, Mr Prior was jostled by dozens of mourners. He recalled afterwards: "I had to make a run for the church door with my detectives shielding me. I just about managed to get through in one piece. "
Heckled
He was later heckled inside the church and as he left afterwards he was jostled again by crowds shouting: "Kill him! Kill him!"
Earlier, mourners cheered and applauded when the minister conducting the funeral service called for the reintroduction of capital punishment.
The IRA admitted responsibility for the murders just hours after the killings.
The Provisionals' statement read: "Belfast Brigade IRA claims responsibility for the execution of Robert Bradford MP, one of the key people responsible for winding up the loyalist paramilitary sectarian machine in the North.
"Let Mr Tyrie (UDA leader) and the UDA know well the cost of killing innocent nationalist people."
The Rev Bradford had become a Methodist minister when he was 22, turning his back on a career as a professional footballer with Sheffield Wednesday.
He joined the UUP when he served as a minister in the loyalist enclave of Suffolk in west Belfast and was elected MP for south Belfast in 1974.
He became an outspoken critic of the IRA and had demanded the reintroduction of hanging for terrorist killers.
The Rev Bradford's widow, Norah, was 33 at the time of the killing. They had one daughter, Claire.
Speaking after the murder, she told reporters: "They have tried several times at the advice centre. They came at least two times before and they were caught out watching the advice centre, but he would not give it up just for them.
"He knew it would be the most likely place for them to get him.
"He never feared he would be attacked. He felt it was a possibility. He did not fear it."
It is clear from other interviews at the time that the Rev Bradford knew he was a target for the Provisionals.
He also knew the centre in Finaghy where he attended clinics at least once a month was a place where an attack could take place.
What makes the claims from a former Army officer more serious is the fact that the security forces knew an attempted murder was going to take place on the morning of November 14, 1981 and appeared to do very little to prevent it.
They know who was in the gang, who was providing support and various other details.
What is clear is that the gang would not stop at these murders. The gun used to kill the Rev Bradford was also used to shoot Judge William Doyle and Mary Travers several years later.
"Northern Ireland has to move on, but I don't think that is possible until we have dealt with the past," said the ex-FRU officer.
"I believe there has to be a lawyer-free truth and reconciliation tribunal where everyone makes statements about the past.
"Police officers, for example, are allowed under the law to waive the restrictions of the Official Secrets Act when they talk to the Police Ombudsman. "A tribunal could offer an amnesty to all participants - security forces and paramilitaries - and a way forward that doesn't involved expensive investigation and legal fees."
Today's revelations will certainly lead to calls for inquiries.
Mrs Bradford said of her husband's killers at the time: "The Lord will deal with them in his own good time. It is not for me to speak of that."
..............................................................................................
Roy Magee takes his secrets to the grave!
http://www.missingpersons-ireland.freepress-freespeech.com/mageesilence.htm
Roy knew a lot but fear and a sense of helplessness (guess why he felt helpless?) he kept his silence because he knew no-one would publish his claims! But I have! Because he blurted out what he knew about the murder of Rev Robert Bradford in a telephone conversation between us both in 1996. Powerful people WILL NOT LET this info be published in mainstream press or media!R
Read Ireland's most controversial book and discover the truth behind the murder of Rev Robert Bradford, the Kincora scandal and why so many people have gone missing since the 1970s!
Ireland's most controversial book!
"Disappeared off the face of the earth" by Jim Cairns
Controversial book - "Disappeared off the face of the earth"!
AIREY NEAVE (Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave)
Airey Middleton Sheffield Neave DSO, OBE, MC (23 January 1916 – 30 March 1979) was a British soldier, barrister and politician.
During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle. He later became Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Abingdon.
Neave was assassinated in 1979 in a car-bomb attack at the House of Commons. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) claimed responsibility.
Early life
Neave was the son of Sheffield Airey Neave (1879–1961), a well-known entomologist, and his wife Dorothy (d. 1943), the daughter of Arthur Thomson Middleton. His father was the grandson of Sheffield Neave, the third son of Sir Thomas Neave, 2nd Baronet (see Neave Baronets). Neave spent his early years in Knightsbridge in London, before he moved to Beaconsfield. Neave was sent to St. Ronan's School, Worthing, and from there, in 1929, he went to Eton College. He went on to study jurisprudence at Merton College, Oxford. While at Eton, Neave composed a prize-winning essay in 1933 that examined the likely consequences of Adolf Hitler's rise to supreme power in Germany, and Neave predicted then that another widespread war would break out in Europe in the near future. Neave had earlier been on a visit to Germany, and he witnessed the Nazi German methods of grasping political and military power in their hands. When Neave went to Oxford University, he purchased and read the entire written works of the prescient writer Carl von Clausewitz. When Neave was asked why, he answered: "since war [is] coming, it [is] only sensible to learn as much as possible about the art of waging it".[1] During 1938, Neave completed his third-class degree in the study of jurisprudence. By his own admission, while at Oxford University, Neave did only the minimal amount of academic work that was required of him by his tutors.
[edit] Wartime service
Neave joined the Territorial Army and became an officer of the Royal Artillery in the regular British Army at the beginning of World War II. He was sent to France in February 1940 as part of a searchlight regiment. He was wounded and captured by the Germans at Calais on 23 May 1940. He was imprisoned at Oflag IX-A/H near Spangenberg and in February 1941 moved to Stalag XX-A near Thorn in German-occupied western Poland. In April 1941 he escaped from Thorn with Norman Forbes. They were captured near Itow while trying to enter Soviet-controlled Poland and were briefly in the hands of the Gestapo. In May, they were both sent to Oflag IV-C (often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location)[2].[citation needed]
Neave made his first attempt to escape from Colditz on 28 August 1941 disguised as a German N.C.O. He did not get out of the castle as his hastily contrived German uniform (made from a Polish army tunic and cap painted with scenery paint) was rendered bright green under the prison searchlights.[3] He tried again on 5 January 1942, again in disguise, together with Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn. Better uniforms and escape route (they made a quick exit from a theatrical production using the trap door beneath the stage) got them out of the prison and by train and on foot they travelled via Leipzig, Ulm, and then into Switzerland via Hans Larive's Singen route by 9 January 1942.[4] Neave returned to Britain through France, Spain, and Gibraltar and was the first British officer to make a "home run" from Colditz.[5]
He was later recruited as an intelligence agent for MI9. While at MI9, he was the immediate superior of Michael Bentine. He also served with the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, investigating Krupp. As a well-known war hero - as well as a qualified lawyer who spoke fluent German - he was honoured with the role of reading the indictments to the Nazi leaders on trial. He wrote several books about his war experiences including an account of the Nuremberg Trial.[6]
[edit] Political career
Neave stood at the 1950 election in Thurrock and at Ealing North in 1951. He was elected for Abingdon in a by-election in June 1953, but his career was held back by a heart attack he suffered in 1959.
Airey Neave was a Governor of Imperial College between 1963 and 1971 and was a member of the House of Commons select committee on Science and Technology between 1965 and 1970.
Edward Heath, when Chief Whip, was alleged to have told Neave that after he suffered his heart attack his career was finished[citation needed] but in his 1998 autobiography, Heath strongly denied ever making such a remark. He admitted that in December 1974 Neave had told him to stand down for the good of the party. During the final two months of 1974, Neave had asked Keith Joseph, William Whitelaw and Edward du Cann to stand against Heath, and said that in the case of any of them challenging for the party leadership, he would be their campaign manager. When all three refused to stand, Neave agreed to be the campaign manager for Margaret Thatcher's attempt to become leader of the Conservative Party, that was eventually victorious. When Thatcher was elected leader in February 1975, he was rewarded with the post of head of her private office. He was then appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and was poised to attain the equivalent Cabinet position at the time of his death. In opposition, Neave was a strong supporter of Roy Mason, who took a hard line against both Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries.
Neave was author of the new and radical Conservative policy of abandoning devolution if there was no early progress in that regard and concentrating on local government reform instead. This integrationist policy was hastily abandoned by Humphrey Atkins, who became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the role Neave had shadowed.
Politician Tony Benn records in his diary (17 February 1981) that a journalist from the New Statesman, Duncan Campbell, told him that he had received information from an intelligence agent two years previously that Neave had planned to have Benn assassinated if a Labour Government was elected, James Callaghan resigned and there was a possibility that Benn might be elected Party Leader in his place. Campbell claimed that the agent was ready to give his name and the New Statesman was going to print the story. Benn, however, discounted the validity of the story and wrote in his diary: "No one will believe for a moment that Airey Neave would have done such a thing".[7] However the magazine printed the story on 20 February 1981, naming the agent as Lee Tracey. Mr. Tracey claimed to have met Neave and was asked to join a team of intelligence and security specialists which would "make sure Benn was stopped". Tracey planned a second meeting with Neave but Neave was killed before they could meet again.[8]
[edit] Death
Memorial plaque to Airey Neave at his alma mater, Merton College, Oxford.
Airey Neave was killed on 30 March 1979, when a car bomb fitted with a mercury tilt switch exploded under his Vauxhall Cavalier[9] at 2.58pm as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park.[10] Both of his legs were blown off and he died in hospital an hour after being freed from the wreckage. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), an Irish Republican organisation banned in the United Kingdom under anti-terrorism legislation, admitted responsibility for the killing.
Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher led tributes to Neave saying: "He was one of freedom's warriors. No one knew of the great man he was, except those nearest to him. He was staunch, brave, true, strong; but he was very gentle and kind and loyal. It's a rare combination of qualities. There's no one else who can quite fill them. I, and so many other people, owe so much to him and now we must carry on for the things he fought for and not let the people who got him triumph." Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan said: "No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism."[10] The INLA issued a statement regarding the killing in the August edition of The Starry Plough.
“
"In March, retired terrorist and supporter of capital punishment, Airey Neave, got a taste of his own medicine when an INLA unit pulled off the operation of the decade and blew him to bits inside the 'impregnable' Palace of Westminster. The nauseous Margaret Thatcher snivelled on television that he was an 'incalculable loss'—and so he was—to the British ruling class".[11]
”
Neave's death came just two days after the vote of no confidence which brought down James Callaghan's government and a few weeks before the 1979 general election which brought about a Conservative party victory and Margaret Thatcher to power as Prime Minister. Neave's wife Diana, whom he married on 29 December 1942, was subsequently elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Airey of Abingdon.
Neave's biographer Paul Routledge met with a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the political wing of INLA) who was involved in the killing of Neave and who told Routledge that Neave "would have been very successful at that job [Northern Ireland Secretary]. He would have brought the armed struggle to its knees".[12]
[edit] Conspiracy theories
Kevin Cahill, an Irish investigative journalist, claims Neave was on the verge of a massive overhaul of the security services, possibly involving a merger of MI5 and MI6 and arising from his belief in corruption in the security services. Cahill suggests a link between Neave's killing, that of Sir Richard Sykes' and the attempted murder of Christopher Tugendhat in December 1980. Cahill claims that Neave would have been head of the combined security services with Sykes and Tugendhat as his deputies, with Sykes responsible for foreign operations and Tugendhat responsible for home operations.
Cahill claims to have had a conversation with a drunken Neave on St. Patrick's Day 1979 in the foyer of the Irish embassy in London. Cahill had left a party and was waiting for a taxi. He saw Neave in the room and introduced himself to him as an admirer. Cahill claims that Neave was inebriated and responded "quite out of the blue" by saying "There are going to be changes here, big changes, soon. There is going to be cleaning of the stables...There has been serious corruption." Neave then said that there was "no use playing games. We have to win...We will win when the [corruption] is sorted out. Count on that." Cahill found Neave's remarks surprising because he seemed internally preoccupied with the UK, with his Northern Ireland brief "almost a sideline". Cahill also thought that Neave's mention of corruption meant Soviet penetration.
Whilst working in the House of Commons as Paddy Ashdown's research assistant, Cahill claims to have had around six conversations with the security staff there. The most frequent remark was that "everyone knew" the story behind Neave's death but that no one could talk about it in detail because it would have been too dangerous. Cahill claims they did not believe INLA killed Neave but that it was an "inside job".
Cahill concluded that Neave was killed by the security services; MI6 agents working with the CIA because Neave sought to prosecute senior figures in the intelligence establishment for corruption.[13]
Another person who did not accept the generally accepted version of events was Enoch Powell, the Ulster Unionist MP. Powell claimed in an interview with The Guardian on 9 January 1984 that the Americans had killed Neave, along with Lord Mountbatten and Robert Bradford MP. He claimed the evidence came from a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with whom he had a conversation.[14]
On 18 October 1986 Powell returned to the subject of Neave's death in a speech to Conservative students in Birmingham. He told them that INLA had not killed Neave, but that he had been assassinated by "MI6 and their friends". Powell claimed Neave's Northern Ireland policy had been one of integration with the rest of the UK and that the Americans feared that this process, if implemented by Neave, would have been irreversible. His killing, alleged Powell, was intended to make the British Government adopt a policy more acceptable to America in her aim of a united Ireland within NATO.[15]
[edit] Works
Saturday At MI9 (U.S. title: The Escape Room)
They Have Their Exits
Flames of Calais
On Trial at Nuremberg
Little Cyclone
[edit] Notes
1.^ Paul Routledge, Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Elusive Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave (Fourth Estate, 2002), p. 35.
2.^ - The Story Of Colditz
3.^ Airey Neave, They Have Their Exits (Beagle Books, Inc., 1971) p.69-76.
4.^ Neave, Airey (1969). The Escape Room. New York: Doubleday & Co..
5.^ McNally, Michael; Peter Dennis (2010). Colditz: Oflag IV-C. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 21.
6.^ Airey Neave, Nuremberg
7.^ Tony Benn, The Benn Diaries (Arrow, 1996), pp. 506-507.
8.^ Routledge, pp. 299-300.
9.^ Pallister, David; Hoggart, Simon (31 March 2009). "From the archive: Airey Neave assassinated". The Guardian (London).
10.^ a b Car bomb kills Airey Neave
11.^ Holland, Jack & McDonald, Henry (1996). INLA Deadly Divisions. Poolbeg. pp. 221. ISBN 1-85371-263-9.
12.^ Routledge, p. 360.
13.^ Routledge, pp. 335-336.
14.^ Simon Heffer, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999), p. 881.
15.^ Heffer, p. 906.
[edit] External links
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Airey Neave
Airey Neave Trust
Margaret Thatcher speech at Neave's memorial service in 1979
Read about Airey Neave on The UK National Archives' website.
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http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=airey%20neave%20who%20murdered&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fonthisday%2Fhi%2Fdates%2Fstories%2Fmarch%2F30%2Fnewsid_2783000%2F2783877.stm&ei=T5PsTsKzM5LA8QOjgOXpCQ&usg=AFQjCNEZSGn-Ww2YnFazxNVoz-WylR3_ug&sig2=GkKve0qLio_-x5TTthwn8w
1979: Car bomb kills Airey Neave
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave has been killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons car park.
The bomb, said to be highly sophisticated, exploded as Mr Neave began driving up the exit ramp shortly before 1500GMT.
Emergency services were on the scene in minutes.
The 63-year-old Conservative MP, known for his tough line on anti-IRA security, was taken to Westminster Hospital where he died from his injuries.
So far two groups, the Provisional IRA and the Irish Natonal Liberation Army, have claimed they carried out the killing.
It is not yet known when the bomb was attached to his car but investigators believe a timing device and trembler - which detonates the bomb through movement - were used to ensure the bomb went off as Mr Neave was leaving the Commons.
The area around Parliament Square was immediately closed as police began a full-scale search of the premises.
Despite increased threats to the safety of MPs not all cars are checked fully as they enter the car park.
Gilbert Kellard, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said Mr Neave was aware of the dangers and was "happy and content" with his security.
Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher led tributes to Mr Neave saying: "He was one of freedom's warriors. Courageous, staunch, true. He lived for his beliefs and now he has died for them."
Prime Minister James Callaghan said: "No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism."
The killing is thought to have been timed to coincide with the start of the election campaign which was announced yesterday.
Mr Neave was a close adviser to Mrs Thatcher, he led her campaign to become the Conservative Party leader and headed her private office.
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Maggie's Machiavel
Douglas Hurd discovers the Colditz escapee who brought down Ted Heath in Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Enigmatic Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave by Paul Routledge
reddit this
Douglas Hurd
The Guardian, Saturday 16 March 2002 23.59 GMT
Article history
Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Enigmatic Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave
Paul Routledge
392pp, Fourth Estate, £16.99
Paul Routledge would not have written this life of Airey Neave had it not been for the manner of Neave's death. On the afternoon of March 30 1979, a car exploded on the ramp leading up from the car park of the House of Commons. The driver of the car, who died in hospital less than an hour later, was shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, a close friend of Margaret Thatcher. Paul Routledge represents Airey Neave as an honourable man who acted through his life in accord with his convictions, but also as a natural plotter whose instinct for conspiracy led him down mysterious paths to that agonising death.
His family did not want this or any book to be written, and gave Routledge only limited cooperation. That may explain why the account of his childhood and his education at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, is somewhat thin. Often in political biographies the opening chapters are the most interesting; they tell us what we could not before have known about the formation of the familiar character who then takes the stage.
By contrast, the account of Airey Neave's war is vivid. The subaltern of 24 was captured in the defence of Calais in May 1940. In January 1942, after weary weeks of preparation, he escaped from Colditz with a young Dutch officer and after many hazards found his way though the snow to Switzerland. His courage and persistence emerge from this story - but also his self-contained reserve. Before long he held high responsibility in MI9, the intelligence agency responsible for creating and sustaining the "ratlines", the channels run by the resistance movements in France, Belgium and Holland for the spiriting back to Britain of shot-down RAF pilots.
After the war, his interest increasingly focused on politics. Thus developed the Airey Neave who became my political neighbour in Oxfordshire, the soft-voiced MP for Abingdon, helpful and pleasant in manner, but always keeping his inner thoughts in reserve. By the time I knew him he had lived through a modest but competent ministerial career, cut short by a heart attack in 1959. A strange story surrounds this setback. It was said that when Airey Neave told the chief whip that his doctor had said he must resign, Ted Heath said curtly, "Well, that's the end of your career". This curt rebuff is said to explain Neave's deep hostility to Heath in later years.
The story does neither man credit. After examining the evidence, Routledge rightly rejects it. But for whatever reason, when it came to the point in 1975, Neave was convinced that Ted Heath must go. Margaret Thatcher shrewdly made him her campaign manager. Most managers cry up the chances of their candidate in order to create a bandwagon of support. Airey Neave, reading the mood of the parliamentary party, persuaded a good many MPs to vote for Thatcher not in order to elect her but to give Heath a sharp warning that he must change his ways.
I had two long talks with Airey Neave in December 1974 and January 1975. There was not much point in his trying to shift me away from supporting Ted Heath. But we talked about the new chapter in Heath's relationship with the party that would be necessary after his re-election. Naively, I was lulled by this tactic. The idea of "a new chapter" was close to my own heart. I discussed it with William Waldegrave, who was by then running Heath's office, and with Heath himself. He should, we said, be more forthcoming, open and friendly to Conservative MPs. Heath welcomed this advice, but somewhat spoiled our pleasure by adding that of course this was how he always behaved.
Airey Neave chose as his reward the post of shadow Northern Ireland secretary. Routledge sees this choice as fitting the "war hero and habitué of the murky world where the politics of democracy and the secret state intervene". But the Northern Ireland portfolio was fascinating and important in its own right. Neave's instincts were Unionist. He gradually began to detach the Conservative party from the concept of power sharing between Unionist and Nationalist politicians, which had underlain Heath's Sunningdale agreement.
There was nothing extreme about Neave's political stance. Perhaps because of his enthusiasm for the wartime resistance movements, he was pro-EEC, and in other respects, as Paul Routledge writes "a Conservative of the old school, with a caring streak". What makes him remarkable to Routledge is his link with the "secret state", defined here as the intelligence establishment that owes its loyalty to the crown rather than to a democratically elected government. It is said to be ready on occasion to consider undemocratic means of rescuing the nation - including the Union with Northern Ireland - from the follies of politicians. Neave's link with the intelligence services, originating with his wartime role in MI9, is seen as relevant to the unsolved questions about his death - who killed him, how was he avenged, why has no one been prosecuted for his murder?
Enoch Powell characteristically came up with the most bizarre answer to the first question. Airey Neave, he suggested, was killed by a combination of MI6 and the Americans who feared that when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, Neave might scupper their plans for a United Ireland. Routledge cannot swallow this - and quite right, too. He is sure that Neave was murdered by the Republican terrorist group INLA; indeed, at personal risk he has talked to some of those involved at one remove. But he suspects that at Thatcher's insistence a campaign of reprisals was undertaken against INLA leaders. This, he thinks, was preferred to any serious attempt to bring the murderers to trial, since such a trial would have brought to light Neave's contacts with "the secret state".
I have a difficulty here. Who would know about this "secret state"? Would the minister responsible for Northern Ireland know, or the minister responsible for supervising MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, or the minister who introduced the two reforms that brought these agencies out of darkness and gave them a statutory existence? When holding these posts, was I part of the "secret state"? As it happens, no. Was I grotesquely simple? Did I fail to notice undemocratic manoeuvres and plots among people with whom I dealt almost every day for nearly 11 years? I hope and think not.
So I do not believe in the "secret state" as defined by Routledge. On the rim of the intelligence agencies there are from time to time eccentrics and malcontents, who drink, dine and whisper, whether against Harold Wilson or Ted Heath or other politicians. They chatter of short cuts and dramatic solutions, and are a godsend to journalists bored with the daily inanities of political life. Neave knew this world from his wartime past, kept in touch with some of its personalities, and enjoyed the occasional spot of dining and whispering himself.
However, he was killed not because of his intelligence background but because he was a prominent English politician with Unionist sympathies. His killers are not alone in Ireland in benefiting from the difference between knowing who committed a murder, and finding the witnesses and evidence to convict.
Lord Hurd is a former Conservative foreign secretary.
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During World War II, Neave was one of the few servicemen to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp Oflag IV-C at Colditz Castle. He later became Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) for Abingdon.
Neave was assassinated in 1979 in a car-bomb attack at the House of Commons. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) claimed responsibility.
Early life
Neave was the son of Sheffield Airey Neave (1879–1961), a well-known entomologist, and his wife Dorothy (d. 1943), the daughter of Arthur Thomson Middleton. His father was the grandson of Sheffield Neave, the third son of Sir Thomas Neave, 2nd Baronet (see Neave Baronets). Neave spent his early years in Knightsbridge in London, before he moved to Beaconsfield. Neave was sent to St. Ronan's School, Worthing, and from there, in 1929, he went to Eton College. He went on to study jurisprudence at Merton College, Oxford. While at Eton, Neave composed a prize-winning essay in 1933 that examined the likely consequences of Adolf Hitler's rise to supreme power in Germany, and Neave predicted then that another widespread war would break out in Europe in the near future. Neave had earlier been on a visit to Germany, and he witnessed the Nazi German methods of grasping political and military power in their hands. When Neave went to Oxford University, he purchased and read the entire written works of the prescient writer Carl von Clausewitz. When Neave was asked why, he answered: "since war [is] coming, it [is] only sensible to learn as much as possible about the art of waging it".[1] During 1938, Neave completed his third-class degree in the study of jurisprudence. By his own admission, while at Oxford University, Neave did only the minimal amount of academic work that was required of him by his tutors.
[edit] Wartime service
Neave joined the Territorial Army and became an officer of the Royal Artillery in the regular British Army at the beginning of World War II. He was sent to France in February 1940 as part of a searchlight regiment. He was wounded and captured by the Germans at Calais on 23 May 1940. He was imprisoned at Oflag IX-A/H near Spangenberg and in February 1941 moved to Stalag XX-A near Thorn in German-occupied western Poland. In April 1941 he escaped from Thorn with Norman Forbes. They were captured near Itow while trying to enter Soviet-controlled Poland and were briefly in the hands of the Gestapo. In May, they were both sent to Oflag IV-C (often referred to as Colditz Castle because of its location)[2].[citation needed]
Neave made his first attempt to escape from Colditz on 28 August 1941 disguised as a German N.C.O. He did not get out of the castle as his hastily contrived German uniform (made from a Polish army tunic and cap painted with scenery paint) was rendered bright green under the prison searchlights.[3] He tried again on 5 January 1942, again in disguise, together with Dutch officer Anthony Luteyn. Better uniforms and escape route (they made a quick exit from a theatrical production using the trap door beneath the stage) got them out of the prison and by train and on foot they travelled via Leipzig, Ulm, and then into Switzerland via Hans Larive's Singen route by 9 January 1942.[4] Neave returned to Britain through France, Spain, and Gibraltar and was the first British officer to make a "home run" from Colditz.[5]
He was later recruited as an intelligence agent for MI9. While at MI9, he was the immediate superior of Michael Bentine. He also served with the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg, investigating Krupp. As a well-known war hero - as well as a qualified lawyer who spoke fluent German - he was honoured with the role of reading the indictments to the Nazi leaders on trial. He wrote several books about his war experiences including an account of the Nuremberg Trial.[6]
[edit] Political career
Neave stood at the 1950 election in Thurrock and at Ealing North in 1951. He was elected for Abingdon in a by-election in June 1953, but his career was held back by a heart attack he suffered in 1959.
Airey Neave was a Governor of Imperial College between 1963 and 1971 and was a member of the House of Commons select committee on Science and Technology between 1965 and 1970.
Edward Heath, when Chief Whip, was alleged to have told Neave that after he suffered his heart attack his career was finished[citation needed] but in his 1998 autobiography, Heath strongly denied ever making such a remark. He admitted that in December 1974 Neave had told him to stand down for the good of the party. During the final two months of 1974, Neave had asked Keith Joseph, William Whitelaw and Edward du Cann to stand against Heath, and said that in the case of any of them challenging for the party leadership, he would be their campaign manager. When all three refused to stand, Neave agreed to be the campaign manager for Margaret Thatcher's attempt to become leader of the Conservative Party, that was eventually victorious. When Thatcher was elected leader in February 1975, he was rewarded with the post of head of her private office. He was then appointed Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland and was poised to attain the equivalent Cabinet position at the time of his death. In opposition, Neave was a strong supporter of Roy Mason, who took a hard line against both Loyalist and Republican paramilitaries.
Neave was author of the new and radical Conservative policy of abandoning devolution if there was no early progress in that regard and concentrating on local government reform instead. This integrationist policy was hastily abandoned by Humphrey Atkins, who became Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, the role Neave had shadowed.
Politician Tony Benn records in his diary (17 February 1981) that a journalist from the New Statesman, Duncan Campbell, told him that he had received information from an intelligence agent two years previously that Neave had planned to have Benn assassinated if a Labour Government was elected, James Callaghan resigned and there was a possibility that Benn might be elected Party Leader in his place. Campbell claimed that the agent was ready to give his name and the New Statesman was going to print the story. Benn, however, discounted the validity of the story and wrote in his diary: "No one will believe for a moment that Airey Neave would have done such a thing".[7] However the magazine printed the story on 20 February 1981, naming the agent as Lee Tracey. Mr. Tracey claimed to have met Neave and was asked to join a team of intelligence and security specialists which would "make sure Benn was stopped". Tracey planned a second meeting with Neave but Neave was killed before they could meet again.[8]
[edit] Death
Memorial plaque to Airey Neave at his alma mater, Merton College, Oxford.
Airey Neave was killed on 30 March 1979, when a car bomb fitted with a mercury tilt switch exploded under his Vauxhall Cavalier[9] at 2.58pm as he drove out of the Palace of Westminster car park.[10] Both of his legs were blown off and he died in hospital an hour after being freed from the wreckage. The Irish National Liberation Army (INLA), an Irish Republican organisation banned in the United Kingdom under anti-terrorism legislation, admitted responsibility for the killing.
Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher led tributes to Neave saying: "He was one of freedom's warriors. No one knew of the great man he was, except those nearest to him. He was staunch, brave, true, strong; but he was very gentle and kind and loyal. It's a rare combination of qualities. There's no one else who can quite fill them. I, and so many other people, owe so much to him and now we must carry on for the things he fought for and not let the people who got him triumph." Labour Prime Minister James Callaghan said: "No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism."[10] The INLA issued a statement regarding the killing in the August edition of The Starry Plough.
“
"In March, retired terrorist and supporter of capital punishment, Airey Neave, got a taste of his own medicine when an INLA unit pulled off the operation of the decade and blew him to bits inside the 'impregnable' Palace of Westminster. The nauseous Margaret Thatcher snivelled on television that he was an 'incalculable loss'—and so he was—to the British ruling class".[11]
”
Neave's death came just two days after the vote of no confidence which brought down James Callaghan's government and a few weeks before the 1979 general election which brought about a Conservative party victory and Margaret Thatcher to power as Prime Minister. Neave's wife Diana, whom he married on 29 December 1942, was subsequently elevated to the House of Lords as Baroness Airey of Abingdon.
Neave's biographer Paul Routledge met with a member of the Irish Republican Socialist Party (the political wing of INLA) who was involved in the killing of Neave and who told Routledge that Neave "would have been very successful at that job [Northern Ireland Secretary]. He would have brought the armed struggle to its knees".[12]
[edit] Conspiracy theories
Kevin Cahill, an Irish investigative journalist, claims Neave was on the verge of a massive overhaul of the security services, possibly involving a merger of MI5 and MI6 and arising from his belief in corruption in the security services. Cahill suggests a link between Neave's killing, that of Sir Richard Sykes' and the attempted murder of Christopher Tugendhat in December 1980. Cahill claims that Neave would have been head of the combined security services with Sykes and Tugendhat as his deputies, with Sykes responsible for foreign operations and Tugendhat responsible for home operations.
Cahill claims to have had a conversation with a drunken Neave on St. Patrick's Day 1979 in the foyer of the Irish embassy in London. Cahill had left a party and was waiting for a taxi. He saw Neave in the room and introduced himself to him as an admirer. Cahill claims that Neave was inebriated and responded "quite out of the blue" by saying "There are going to be changes here, big changes, soon. There is going to be cleaning of the stables...There has been serious corruption." Neave then said that there was "no use playing games. We have to win...We will win when the [corruption] is sorted out. Count on that." Cahill found Neave's remarks surprising because he seemed internally preoccupied with the UK, with his Northern Ireland brief "almost a sideline". Cahill also thought that Neave's mention of corruption meant Soviet penetration.
Whilst working in the House of Commons as Paddy Ashdown's research assistant, Cahill claims to have had around six conversations with the security staff there. The most frequent remark was that "everyone knew" the story behind Neave's death but that no one could talk about it in detail because it would have been too dangerous. Cahill claims they did not believe INLA killed Neave but that it was an "inside job".
Cahill concluded that Neave was killed by the security services; MI6 agents working with the CIA because Neave sought to prosecute senior figures in the intelligence establishment for corruption.[13]
Another person who did not accept the generally accepted version of events was Enoch Powell, the Ulster Unionist MP. Powell claimed in an interview with The Guardian on 9 January 1984 that the Americans had killed Neave, along with Lord Mountbatten and Robert Bradford MP. He claimed the evidence came from a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with whom he had a conversation.[14]
On 18 October 1986 Powell returned to the subject of Neave's death in a speech to Conservative students in Birmingham. He told them that INLA had not killed Neave, but that he had been assassinated by "MI6 and their friends". Powell claimed Neave's Northern Ireland policy had been one of integration with the rest of the UK and that the Americans feared that this process, if implemented by Neave, would have been irreversible. His killing, alleged Powell, was intended to make the British Government adopt a policy more acceptable to America in her aim of a united Ireland within NATO.[15]
[edit] Works
Saturday At MI9 (U.S. title: The Escape Room)
They Have Their Exits
Flames of Calais
On Trial at Nuremberg
Little Cyclone
[edit] Notes
1.^ Paul Routledge, Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Elusive Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave (Fourth Estate, 2002), p. 35.
2.^ - The Story Of Colditz
3.^ Airey Neave, They Have Their Exits (Beagle Books, Inc., 1971) p.69-76.
4.^ Neave, Airey (1969). The Escape Room. New York: Doubleday & Co..
5.^ McNally, Michael; Peter Dennis (2010). Colditz: Oflag IV-C. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. pp. 21.
6.^ Airey Neave, Nuremberg
7.^ Tony Benn, The Benn Diaries (Arrow, 1996), pp. 506-507.
8.^ Routledge, pp. 299-300.
9.^ Pallister, David; Hoggart, Simon (31 March 2009). "From the archive: Airey Neave assassinated". The Guardian (London).
10.^ a b Car bomb kills Airey Neave
11.^ Holland, Jack & McDonald, Henry (1996). INLA Deadly Divisions. Poolbeg. pp. 221. ISBN 1-85371-263-9.
12.^ Routledge, p. 360.
13.^ Routledge, pp. 335-336.
14.^ Simon Heffer, Like the Roman: The Life of Enoch Powell (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1999), p. 881.
15.^ Heffer, p. 906.
[edit] External links
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Airey Neave
Airey Neave Trust
Margaret Thatcher speech at Neave's memorial service in 1979
Read about Airey Neave on The UK National Archives' website.
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http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=airey%20neave%20who%20murdered&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.bbc.co.uk%2Fonthisday%2Fhi%2Fdates%2Fstories%2Fmarch%2F30%2Fnewsid_2783000%2F2783877.stm&ei=T5PsTsKzM5LA8QOjgOXpCQ&usg=AFQjCNEZSGn-Ww2YnFazxNVoz-WylR3_ug&sig2=GkKve0qLio_-x5TTthwn8w
1979: Car bomb kills Airey Neave
Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Airey Neave has been killed by a car bomb as he left the House of Commons car park.
The bomb, said to be highly sophisticated, exploded as Mr Neave began driving up the exit ramp shortly before 1500GMT.
Emergency services were on the scene in minutes.
The 63-year-old Conservative MP, known for his tough line on anti-IRA security, was taken to Westminster Hospital where he died from his injuries.
So far two groups, the Provisional IRA and the Irish Natonal Liberation Army, have claimed they carried out the killing.
It is not yet known when the bomb was attached to his car but investigators believe a timing device and trembler - which detonates the bomb through movement - were used to ensure the bomb went off as Mr Neave was leaving the Commons.
The area around Parliament Square was immediately closed as police began a full-scale search of the premises.
Despite increased threats to the safety of MPs not all cars are checked fully as they enter the car park.
Gilbert Kellard, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police said Mr Neave was aware of the dangers and was "happy and content" with his security.
Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher led tributes to Mr Neave saying: "He was one of freedom's warriors. Courageous, staunch, true. He lived for his beliefs and now he has died for them."
Prime Minister James Callaghan said: "No effort will be spared to bring the murderers to justice and to rid the United Kingdom of the scourge of terrorism."
The killing is thought to have been timed to coincide with the start of the election campaign which was announced yesterday.
Mr Neave was a close adviser to Mrs Thatcher, he led her campaign to become the Conservative Party leader and headed her private office.
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Maggie's Machiavel
Douglas Hurd discovers the Colditz escapee who brought down Ted Heath in Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Enigmatic Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave by Paul Routledge
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Douglas Hurd
The Guardian, Saturday 16 March 2002 23.59 GMT
Article history
Public Servant, Secret Agent: The Enigmatic Life and Violent Death of Airey Neave
Paul Routledge
392pp, Fourth Estate, £16.99
Paul Routledge would not have written this life of Airey Neave had it not been for the manner of Neave's death. On the afternoon of March 30 1979, a car exploded on the ramp leading up from the car park of the House of Commons. The driver of the car, who died in hospital less than an hour later, was shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland, a close friend of Margaret Thatcher. Paul Routledge represents Airey Neave as an honourable man who acted through his life in accord with his convictions, but also as a natural plotter whose instinct for conspiracy led him down mysterious paths to that agonising death.
His family did not want this or any book to be written, and gave Routledge only limited cooperation. That may explain why the account of his childhood and his education at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, is somewhat thin. Often in political biographies the opening chapters are the most interesting; they tell us what we could not before have known about the formation of the familiar character who then takes the stage.
By contrast, the account of Airey Neave's war is vivid. The subaltern of 24 was captured in the defence of Calais in May 1940. In January 1942, after weary weeks of preparation, he escaped from Colditz with a young Dutch officer and after many hazards found his way though the snow to Switzerland. His courage and persistence emerge from this story - but also his self-contained reserve. Before long he held high responsibility in MI9, the intelligence agency responsible for creating and sustaining the "ratlines", the channels run by the resistance movements in France, Belgium and Holland for the spiriting back to Britain of shot-down RAF pilots.
After the war, his interest increasingly focused on politics. Thus developed the Airey Neave who became my political neighbour in Oxfordshire, the soft-voiced MP for Abingdon, helpful and pleasant in manner, but always keeping his inner thoughts in reserve. By the time I knew him he had lived through a modest but competent ministerial career, cut short by a heart attack in 1959. A strange story surrounds this setback. It was said that when Airey Neave told the chief whip that his doctor had said he must resign, Ted Heath said curtly, "Well, that's the end of your career". This curt rebuff is said to explain Neave's deep hostility to Heath in later years.
The story does neither man credit. After examining the evidence, Routledge rightly rejects it. But for whatever reason, when it came to the point in 1975, Neave was convinced that Ted Heath must go. Margaret Thatcher shrewdly made him her campaign manager. Most managers cry up the chances of their candidate in order to create a bandwagon of support. Airey Neave, reading the mood of the parliamentary party, persuaded a good many MPs to vote for Thatcher not in order to elect her but to give Heath a sharp warning that he must change his ways.
I had two long talks with Airey Neave in December 1974 and January 1975. There was not much point in his trying to shift me away from supporting Ted Heath. But we talked about the new chapter in Heath's relationship with the party that would be necessary after his re-election. Naively, I was lulled by this tactic. The idea of "a new chapter" was close to my own heart. I discussed it with William Waldegrave, who was by then running Heath's office, and with Heath himself. He should, we said, be more forthcoming, open and friendly to Conservative MPs. Heath welcomed this advice, but somewhat spoiled our pleasure by adding that of course this was how he always behaved.
Airey Neave chose as his reward the post of shadow Northern Ireland secretary. Routledge sees this choice as fitting the "war hero and habitué of the murky world where the politics of democracy and the secret state intervene". But the Northern Ireland portfolio was fascinating and important in its own right. Neave's instincts were Unionist. He gradually began to detach the Conservative party from the concept of power sharing between Unionist and Nationalist politicians, which had underlain Heath's Sunningdale agreement.
There was nothing extreme about Neave's political stance. Perhaps because of his enthusiasm for the wartime resistance movements, he was pro-EEC, and in other respects, as Paul Routledge writes "a Conservative of the old school, with a caring streak". What makes him remarkable to Routledge is his link with the "secret state", defined here as the intelligence establishment that owes its loyalty to the crown rather than to a democratically elected government. It is said to be ready on occasion to consider undemocratic means of rescuing the nation - including the Union with Northern Ireland - from the follies of politicians. Neave's link with the intelligence services, originating with his wartime role in MI9, is seen as relevant to the unsolved questions about his death - who killed him, how was he avenged, why has no one been prosecuted for his murder?
Enoch Powell characteristically came up with the most bizarre answer to the first question. Airey Neave, he suggested, was killed by a combination of MI6 and the Americans who feared that when Margaret Thatcher became prime minister, Neave might scupper their plans for a United Ireland. Routledge cannot swallow this - and quite right, too. He is sure that Neave was murdered by the Republican terrorist group INLA; indeed, at personal risk he has talked to some of those involved at one remove. But he suspects that at Thatcher's insistence a campaign of reprisals was undertaken against INLA leaders. This, he thinks, was preferred to any serious attempt to bring the murderers to trial, since such a trial would have brought to light Neave's contacts with "the secret state".
I have a difficulty here. Who would know about this "secret state"? Would the minister responsible for Northern Ireland know, or the minister responsible for supervising MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, or the minister who introduced the two reforms that brought these agencies out of darkness and gave them a statutory existence? When holding these posts, was I part of the "secret state"? As it happens, no. Was I grotesquely simple? Did I fail to notice undemocratic manoeuvres and plots among people with whom I dealt almost every day for nearly 11 years? I hope and think not.
So I do not believe in the "secret state" as defined by Routledge. On the rim of the intelligence agencies there are from time to time eccentrics and malcontents, who drink, dine and whisper, whether against Harold Wilson or Ted Heath or other politicians. They chatter of short cuts and dramatic solutions, and are a godsend to journalists bored with the daily inanities of political life. Neave knew this world from his wartime past, kept in touch with some of its personalities, and enjoyed the occasional spot of dining and whispering himself.
However, he was killed not because of his intelligence background but because he was a prominent English politician with Unionist sympathies. His killers are not alone in Ireland in benefiting from the difference between knowing who committed a murder, and finding the witnesses and evidence to convict.
Lord Hurd is a former Conservative foreign secretary.
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