Clippings: The Lie Detector Story

👤 Robin Ramsay  

Clippings The Lie Detector Story

In the wake of the Prime case, US intelligence has made polygraph (lie detector) introduction into GCHQ at Cheltenham a condition of future GCHQ-NSA cooperation.

  1. “At a meeting in July with Civil Service union leaders, Sir Robert Armstrong, the Cabinet Secretary, made it clear that Senior Whitehall officials were reluctant to introduce lie detectors but had little choice because of pressure from Washington.” (Guardian 19th September 1983)
  2. Society of Civil and Public Servants distributed a pamphlet at GCHQ claiming that US experience suggests that polygraph tests wrongly clear 1 in 4 guilty suspects. (Guardian 19th October 1983)
  3. On polygraph’s failings: Douglas Carroll (Guardian 26th May 1983) and New Scientist (15th December 1983)
  4. Summary of the story so far: Richard Norton-Taylor (Guardian 16th November) and Hennessy (Times 16 November 1983)
  5. UK Government buys six polygraphs for use at GCHQ. (Guardian 16th November 1983)
  6. “Whitehall heading for a serious dispute at GCHQ… its refusal to consult with civil servants there about introducing the polygraph.” (Guardian 7th December)
  7. Worth quoting from James Bamford’s The Puzzle Palace (London 1982) on all this. He said, p xxxiii of all these moves:
    “It was all nonsense. As weak as security was at GCHQ, it was a fortress compared to the NSA. The NSA was simply better at hiding how much and how badly it had been penetrated.”

    Secrecy

  8. Evidence on public records policy taken by House of Commons Select C’ttee on Education, Science and the Arts published in July (1983). Christopher Price MP, one of the committee’s members, on how the system works and its faults. (Observer 24th July)
    Reports on the (as yet unpublished) report itself in Guardian (4th July 1983), and in Times (7th July 1983). Times leader also that day advocating a Select Committee on Official Information.
  9. Report on evidence presented to the committee: concern expressed at current policy by various research bodies. (Guardian 12th July 1983)
  10. 1984 Campaign for Freedom of Information set up. (Guardian 1st August 1983, Times 28/8/83).
  11. Leaders of First Division Association (Civil Service body representing senior grades) concerned over recent spate of leaks, is consulting members on official information policy. (Guardian 21 September 1983).
  12. Cabinet Sec. Armstrong writes all 40 Permanent Secretaries re leaks. This letter leaked. (Guardian 31 August 1983)
  13. First Division Association draw up proposals to reduce official secrecy. Discussion paper to all FDA’s 8000 members includes proposal that everything be considered available to public unless specifically stated otherwise. (Guardian 24 September and Sunday Times 18 December 1983)
  14. Whitehall using pressure for Data Protection as argument for withdrawing official records from public view beyond normal 30 yrs. Remarks by Lord Donaldson, Ch’mn Advisory Council on Public Records in 24 th Annual Report of Public Records Office. (Guardian 1 July 1983.)
  15. Thatcher personally stops publication of two books: official histories of war-time MI5 and war-time counter intelligence operations. (Guardian 25 November and 8 December 1983)
  16. Anthony Lester QC lecture states UK increasingly isolated from Europe and Commonwealth by refusal to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights into law. Notes individual petitions from UK ruled admissable by European Commission of Human Rights twice those of any other European country. (Guardian 12 November 1983)
  17. Campaign launched to end excessive secrecy in local Gov. by group of MPs. (Guardian 2 December 1983) Campaign literature: Access To Local Government Information by Ron Bailey £l.25p from Local Government and Health Rights Project, 157 Waterloo Rd SE1. Is excellent, clear guide to legal position re what can be seen and how to go about getting it.

    Policing

  18. Gtr.Manchester Police logging colour and race of phone complaints. Method not given. (Daily Telegraph 2 September 1983)
  19. Four year experiment recording police interrogation in Scotland shows taping leads police to do interrogations before arrival at stations. (Sunday Times 18 December 1983)
  20. Police researching computer assisted finger-print matching. (Guardian 24 October 1983)
  21. Campaign Against Plastic Bullets states 20,000 pb’s in UK police forces. 15 UK forces authorised to use them. Figures from Home Office. (Guardian 24 October and 19 December 1983 – latter in letters page) List of authorities with PB’s in Rights (NCCL) Summer 1983
  22. Assoc. Metropolitan Authorities sent questionnaire to all 43 Police Authorities re police use of computers. Not one replied. (Tribune 7 October 1983)
  23. South Wales Police accused of trying to frame Dafydd Elis Thomas MP as leader of Welsh Nat bombing campaign. Unclear if this Special Branch or regular police. (Observer 20/11/83)
  24. Manchester police filming customers entering gay pub. (Rights (NCCL) Summer 1983)

    Special Branch

  25. West Midlands SB revealed carrying out check on Madelaine Haig after letter to local paper. (Guardian 20 and 22 September 1983)
  26. Claim that SB carried out ‘full check’ on peace group re 26.
  27. West Midlands Chief Cons. said police analysed and assessed information to see if it “gives us any indication that people might be prepared to get involved in public demonstrations that may involve the commission of offences.” (Guardian 17 Nov 1983) This suggests the following as the operational criterion of that particular SB:
    “people who might be prepared to get involved in public demonstrations that may involve commission of offences.”
  28. West Mid. Chief Constable stated West Midlands SB had 73 police personnel. State Research No 19 (p 165) reported same SB had 65 members in 1979.
  29. Two page report City Limits (2 September 1983) on list of ex SB members and subsequent employment. Organisation hiring such include: MOD, Standard Telephone and Cable, Plessey, British Gas, and Saladin Security.
  30. Convicted murderer Ronald Waldron claims he was a contract killer for Mid East groups while employed by Merseyside SB and MI5. (Guardian and Times 9 November 1983). Call for public enquiry: police to interview (Times 15 November 1983)
  31. Tony Bunyan in review of The Branch by Rupert Allason (aka Nigel West) notes that Allason reveals (for first time?) that SB have access to National Insurance Records. (Tribune 23 September 1983)

    The Strong State

  32. Home Office figures show more than 5600 people detained under Prevention of Terrorism Act since 1974. Only 86 found guilty of offences related to the act. (Guardian 5 August 1983)
  33. New Prevention of Terrorism Act given 2nd reading House of Commons. Enables police to arrest and detain for 48 hours without warrant and for 5 days with word from Home Sec. Bill extended now to “any person suspected of being in the commission, preparation or instigation ” of “the use of violence for political ends” anywhere in the world. Bill to run 5 years. Words ‘temporary provision’ found in previous versions now omitted. Bill gives police power to act against members of liberation movements abroad living in this country. (Guardian 24 October – NCCL spokesperson spells it out: Guardian 25 October Parliamentary reports)
  34. “Terrorism” alert Heathrow. “Security” exercise involving police, troops, SAS, armoured cars. British Airports Authority said “regular exercise”. (Black Flag December 1983)
  35. Report that Gov. preparing to introduce internment for anti-nuclear protesters. Various prison camps said to be examined – first designated at Rollerton, Salisbury Plain. No reference to source of info. (Black Flag 18 November 1983)
  36. Civil servants warned jobs at risk if active members of CND. DEP issuing new guidelines stating that at EO level and above CS need permission to take part in local political activities. (Guardian 23 November 1983)

    Army-civilian power relations

  37. Peter Hennessy (Times 30 August 1983) of 1980 lecture by Chief of Defence Staff. Lecture stated it would be “totally inappropriate” to use armed force “in a main public order role unless disorder was occurring on such a scale that police could not cope and our whole Parliamentary system was threatened, or a minority, by violent means and armed force, was attempting to challenge the very authority of government with a view to overthrowing it.”
    Hennessy comments that as police (post Brixton) are now better equipped for riots

    “At the highest tables in the police, it is now believed that the armed forces would be needed only if there was an ‘armed insurrection’ in Brixton or a comparable area”.

    Longer, better and much less sanguine account of the same speech in State Research No 29 pp. 94/5.

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From this issue onwards, The Lobster will include a digest of clippings from newspapers and articles we have spotted. We will produce an index of the contents of The Lobster every six issues. If anyone reading this regularly reads something we are missing, we would he pleased to receive notes on what we’ve missed. This first batch ends at December 31st.

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Sources

COVERT ACTION, the journal set up by Philip Agee and friends in the late 1970s to monitor and, if possible, counter the activities of the CIA and all the other covert arms of the post-war American Empire, is still ploughing along. It used to be distributed in this country but we haven’t seen it anywhere recently. The current issue is mostly devoted to events in Grenada (and is very good indeed) . We think UK subscriptions are $25 pa, but to make sure, why not drop a line to them.

Covert Action,
PO Box 50272,
Washington DC, 20004,
USA

Jonathan Marshall’s Parapolitics, a newsletter devoted to things akin to the interests of The Lobster, has folded. Marshall is, apparently, too busy. Which is a pity. However, back copies of Parapolitics (which is superb) can be had from Aries Research PO Box 1107, Aptos, California, 95003, USA. Worth writing and asking (a) how many copies there are and (b) how much.

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