CDR: new brit spybook simmering
David Honig
honig at sprynet.com
Wed Sep 6 07:46:45 PDT 2000
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.
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