» SubscribeMain section
-
Top story
Civil servant faces official secrets trial
160/Martin Bright
Derek Pasquill is a sacrificial lamb on the altar of national security, writes Martin Bright, political editor of the 'New Statesman'. This article first appeared on the 'Index on Censorship' website.
DATELINE: 12/11/07Foreign Office civil servant Derek Pasquill has begun the long trial process after being charged under the Official Secrets Act.
He is accused of making six damaging disclosures of documents that came into his possession as a civil servant. These concerned Government policy on two of the most pressing issues of the age: extraordinary rendition, and dialogue with radical Islamist groups in the Middle East such as the Muslim Brotherhood.
The charges, to which he has pleaded not guilty are said to refer to articles that appeared in the Observer and the New Statesman under my byline. I have been connected with two previous secrets trials, the first involving the MI5 whistleblower David Shayler and the second that of the GCHQ translator Katharine Gun. Both represented outrageous abuses of state power in their way, but they differed in several important senses from the Pasquill case. In both previous trials, the alleged disclosures involved documents classified as "Top Secret" or above.
In the Pasquill case nothing involved has a classification above "Confidential". There is no suggestion that the disclosures involved put agents of the intelligence services at risk or jeopardised any ongoing operations. But more importantly, Pasquill's disclosures influenced a shift in Government policy on the issue of dialogue with radical Islam after they were published in the Observer, the New Statesman and in a pamphlet by the centre-right think tank Policy Exchange. As a result, ministers began asking questions about whether it had been wise to use the Islamist Muslim Council of Britain as a "one-stop-shop" for dialogue with Britain's Muslim communities.
Ruth Kelly is known to have read my Policy Exchange pamphlet over the summer of 2006 when she was Communities Secretary. It is known that it informed her decision to distance the Government from the Muslim Council of Britain later that year. The disclosures also informed the policy work carried out for the Conservative Party by Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, the former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee. And yet, the Government insists on pursuing Mr Pasquill through the courts.
There are many politicians on both sides of the political divide who are beginning to wake up to the reality of the situation first highlighted by the documents published in the Observer and the New Statesman. There are no national security issues at stake here. Rather than seeking another sacrificial lamb on the altar of official secrecy, ministers should be looking for remedies for the issues raised by Mr Pasquill and developing procedures to allow future whistleblowers to raise their concerns.
Last modified: Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Previous government policy stories
New Threat to Media Freedom
Blair's farewell: No politician can live by spin alone
Government response to Public Voice Petition on Digital Dividend
New Media services should not be regulated like TV, says Lords Committee
IFJ Alarmed by Western Attacks on Whistleblowers and Investigative Journalism
Current Affairs and Ofcom
From The Files
Minister backs BBC Arabic TV
Terror Bill 'a threat to press freedom' says CPBF
Inquiry into new media and the creative industries
OFT and Magazine Distribution
Sewn Up: Media Policy Excludes Public
Important Campaign pamphlets available...
Make the Media an Election Issue
Freedom of Information from the FoI Campaign
Their Lordships have their say on digital switchover...
Right of Reply and Press Standards Bill
Threats to the BBC
BBC Conference
IFJ condemns BBC threat to public service
Journalism and Trust
Save Public Broadcasting
The future of non-commercial local radio & tv
BBC Charter review hearings
DCMS review of BBC digital radio published
Is Wife Swap a public service programme?
Public Service Broadcasting Campaign: E-activism site launched
A new framework for Public Service Broadcasting
THE BBC’S FUTURE
Fox censured by Ofcom
-
Notices
Events & Announcements
World Press Freedom Day
More reporters are currently imprisoned in Turkey than in any other country in the world. Only a matter of weeks ago lawyers failed to persuade a Turkish court to release a 76-year-old journalist from a Turkish internet news station.
World Press Freedom Day on Friday May 3, 2013 is being marked in Britain by a rally to highlight the dangers facing journalists in Turkey and in this podcast, Nicholas Jones speaks to Barry White, Organiser at the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom, and Sam Bamford, the TUC's policy officer for Eastern Europe and Africa about the importance of a campaign to highlight international press freedom.
The World Press Freedom Day rally is being staged by the National Union of Journalists at the NUJ head office, Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 on Thursday May 2, 6pm-8pm.
DATELINE: 27/4/13
UK launch of EU media campaign
DATELINE: 13/3/13
The UK launch of a 'European Citizens' Initiative' calling for EU rules against concentration of media power will take place on Thursday March 21 from 11:00am – 12:30pm in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords, London. Guest speakers will include actor and activist Hugh Grant (pictured), media consultant Claire Enders, Professor Steven Barnett, Barry McCall (President of the NUJ) and Marc Gruber (Director of the European Federation of Journalists).
A European Citizens' Initiative is an official petition, like a Downing Street petition. If it succeeds in gathering a million signatures across the EU, the Commission is obliged to respond.
This petition calls for the EU to act to protect media pluralism and press freedom.
CPBF Annual General Meeting
DATELINE: 1/3/13
Make a note in your diary
Saturday 13 July 2013 from 10.00am
NUJ HQ, 308/312 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1.
Leveson, media ownership, CPBF future work.
DOWNLOAD FREEPRESS NOW
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Download Freepress in PDF, ePub or mobi format. Issue 194 now available.
MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE
DATELINE: 26/3/10
Papers from the Media for All Conference
MEDIA MANIFESTO
DATELINE: 26/3/10
The media’s job is to inform and entertain us but we rely on them too to tell us what our rulers and representatives are up to. In the run-up to the Iraq war the government used spin and disinformation in the media to create panic and mislead people. The truth is coming out now, but we need stronger, more independent media to be able to scrutinise governments and make informed choices.
-
Previous stories
Government Policy
New Threat to Media Freedom
Blair's farewell: No politician can live by spin alone
Government response to Public Voice Petition on Digital Dividend
New Media services should not be regulated like TV, says Lords Committee
IFJ Alarmed by Western Attacks on Whistleblowers and Investigative Journalism
Current Affairs and Ofcom
From The Files
Minister backs BBC Arabic TV
Terror Bill 'a threat to press freedom' says CPBF
Inquiry into new media and the creative industries
OFT and Magazine Distribution
Sewn Up: Media Policy Excludes Public
Important Campaign pamphlets available...
Make the Media an Election Issue
Freedom of Information from the FoI Campaign
Their Lordships have their say on digital switchover...
Right of Reply and Press Standards Bill
Threats to the BBC
BBC Conference
IFJ condemns BBC threat to public service
Journalism and Trust
Save Public Broadcasting
The future of non-commercial local radio & tv
BBC Charter review hearings
DCMS review of BBC digital radio published
Is Wife Swap a public service programme?
Public Service Broadcasting Campaign: E-activism site launched
A new framework for Public Service Broadcasting
THE BBC’S FUTURE
Fox censured by Ofcom
