Those brits really need a 1st amendment... (and the _SUN_ needs to buy a clue about physical security) ..good hype for Random House though.. http://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12986507 WEDNESDAY, 06 SEPTEMBER, 2000 SUN PUTS SPY SECRETS UNDER LOCK AND KEY Details ... Dame Stella Rimington EXCLUSIVE By JOHN KAY THE Sun has been handed a copy of a red-hot book of spy secrets written by the former head of MI5. The manuscript by Dame Stella Rimington is now being vetted by security chiefs to decide if it can be published in ANY form. Many of them want to ban A Life Of Surprises because it is packed with detail about Dame Stella's career - especially her four years as MI5 boss. We spent weeks checking the facts in the book to establish it was not a hoax. The manuscript is safely locked in The Sun's safe. Then we contacted Downing Street chiefs to arrange for the red-hot document to be collected. We decided it was not in the national interest to reveal any of the book's more sensitive contents. But we CAN disclose that it touches on such matters as spy provisions in the Cold War, the ultra-secret SAS and terrorism. Top secret ... we decided it was not in national interest to reveal any details It also includes references to the left-wing Militant Tendency and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. The book - which is packed with detail about Dame Stella's 29-year career in the secret service - came into our hands anonymously. And one theory was that a disgruntled spook at MI5's rival organisation MI6 arranged for the copy to be delivered to us in a bid to sabotage publication. The Sun exclusively revealed last May that 65-year-old Dame Stella - given her title in the 1996 New Year's Honours - had written her memoirs. She submitted a draft to the Government seeking official approval to publish, which has not yet been granted. But the serving heads of MI5 and MI6, Stephen Lander and Richard Dearlove, together with Cabinet Secretary Sir Richard Wilson, all wanted the book banned. Some senior MI6 officers were so outraged they demanded to have Dame Stella arrested under the Official Secrets Act. Safe as houses ... we locked book up amid tight security Home Secretary Jack Straw fears a ban could be challenged under the new human rights act which becomes law next month. Mother-of-two Dame Stella, who retired from the #90,000-a-year job in 1996, has already been offered a #500,000 advance by publishers Random House. And it is believed she could earn up to #1million through worldwide sales and serialisations. But in a postscript, Dame Stella says: "As I write this in January 2000, nearly four years on, I don't know if what I have written will ever be published. "I have not yet told my former colleagues that I am writing it, and when I do, and when they see what I have written, there may be such a furore that it will never see the light of day. "I hope it does because I think the story it tells is an important counterbalance to the scandals and revelations that have been too much the currency of writing on British intelligence." She adds: "So if anyone ever reads this, I hope you enjoy it." Honour ... MI5's first woman boss being made a Dame in 1996 The book describes the casual way in which she was recruited while working as a civil servant in India - when the resident MI5 agent whispered in her ear: "Pst, do you want to be a spy?" It discloses how she rapidly worked her way up the ladder in a profession dominated by men. The book is dotted with humorous anecdotes including her dealings with ex-PMs Maggie Thatcher and John Major. There is also much detail about the "methodology" of MI5 - especially over counter-espionage and the war against the IRA. Dame Stella, who is immensely proud to have been Britain's first female spymaster, claims credit for overseeing a large increase in the number of women spooks. Security chiefs want to stop publication because they fear information being given to Britain's enemies - and to avoid being accused of double standards. The Government went to great lengths to try to ban the Spycatcher memoirs of former MI5 bugging expert Peter Wright. Ex-MI5 officer David Shayler has returned to Britain to face charges under the Official Secrets Act for writing about the secret service. And ex-MI6 officer Richard Tomlinson was jailed for trying to publish his autobiography. Shock ... Sun story last May A senior government security source said: "This is what is so appalling. It is not so much the content, it is the principle of her writing it which is all so wrong. "She should just keep quiet and enjoy her sizeable pension and income from directorships. "By writing her book she is only encouraging other spies to start penning their own memoirs." Copies of the manuscript are understood to have been circulated to MI5, MI6, Special Branch, senior civil servants and government ministers. Another security source said: "The book does contain sensitive information but there is no question of Dame Stella naming any of our agents. The biggest fear is that it will open the floodgates." Leading security expert Chris Dobson, who has written 15 books on spies and terrorists, said: "I congratulate The Sun for acting in a highly responsible manner. "It is essential that this book never sees the light of the day." Snoop doggy dogs MI5 HQ THE Sun is prepared to reveal only one anecdote from Dame Stella's book - because we don't believe it breaches ANY official secrets. After becoming director general of MI5 in 1992, her home was besieged by journalists and she moved her two daughters and their pet dog into an apartment on the top floor of the spy network's central London HQ. The hound was issued with his own special security pass and a codename - Alpha 7.