[…] Robin Ramsay This is only the second novel I have reviewed in Lobster.1 The cover and the author blurb tells us that author Beaumont is a ‘former MI6 operative’. ‘Operative’? Why not ‘officer’? The author tells me the word was chosen by the publisher. It is set in post–2020 UK, with a recognizable Boris […]
[…] The McGrath story involves much detail about the murky politics and paramilitary activity of Protestant fringe groups during the conflict with the IRA. Having had contact with MI6 in the sixties, McGrath was recruited by MI5 – precisely when, or for what, is unclear – providing him with cover for his sexual activities. 1 […]
[…] children wept bitter tears on camera and no-one mentioned UK military aid to radical Islamists fighting Gaddafi. There are no references in the official report to SIS, MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service.73 70 or 71 I wrote about this in Lobster 74 at under subhead Manchester. 72 28 73 On the other hand, […]
[PDF file]: […] damaging the war effort in Afghanistan. In an unprecedented step, he arranged for Murdoch and Brooks ‘to be given an off-the-record briefing by the then head of MI6, Sir John Scarlett….. Sir John warned them that the Taliban were using Sun stories as propaganda and that they were damaging British military morale’. Brooks apparently […]
[…] children wept bitter tears on camera and no-one mentioned UK military aid to radical Islamists fighting Gaddafi. There are no references in the official report to SIS, MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service.73 70 or 71 I wrote about this in Lobster 74 at under subhead Manchester. 72 28 73 On the other hand, […]
[PDF file]: […] Mirror, if he thought that Bonnett could possibly have been inserted into Belfast in the crisis of 1972 at the request or even command of MI5 or MI6. News gathering in Ireland was traditionally handled from the Manchester offices of the nationals. I put it to Leo that a reporter sometimes needs trade in […]
[PDF file]: […] regard to the Soviet Union). But by whom, and why, was this required? And why choose Loftus? Couldn’t Major Foley or Lt. Malone, both of whom were MI6 officers, have done just as much? A clue as to Pierse Loftus’s political alignment can be found in Hansard. He showed significant interest in the cases […]
[PDF file]: […] Chase, (Little Brown, New York, 2009) 1 ‘controversial topics on which verifiable evidence was scarce’.3 A former telex operator related how he had been grilled by an MI6 officer about Holden’s last telexes. Later, McCormick told him some telexes relating to Holden were missing. ‘Christ! Is there a spy in the department?’ the operator […]
[…] children wept bitter tears on camera and no-one mentioned UK military aid to radical Islamists fighting Gaddafi. There are no references in the official report to SIS, MI6 or the Secret Intelligence Service.59 On the other hand, Nick Must noted that the report contains 76 references to ‘MI5’ and 213 to ‘Security Service’ – […]
[PDF file]: […] it more carefully, I was struck by the omission from this account of the role played by Oleg Penkovsky, the GRU colonel who was providing SIS ( MI6) – and thus the Americans – with detailed information on Soviet nuclear weaponry. Crucially, Penkovsky told SIS how few missiles the Soviets actually had and that […]
