The last forum of accountability? State secrecy,intelligence and freedom of information in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The official mechanisms of intelligence oversight and accountability in the United Kingdom are arguably disjointed and ineffective. Thus, informal actors such as journalists, have played a more significant role. In addition, a rise of whistleblowers and leakers, such as Chelsea Manning, have highlighted the importance of online archives as an avenue for accountability. The United Kingdom is legally bound to place official documents on the public record at the National Archives. Sensitive material on intelligence and other security subjects majorly impedes the bulk release of documents. Inevitably, the inclination to ‘weed’ sensitive material from mundane documents has resulted in a costly declassification process. Evidence suggests that historians successfully investigated these subjects through the use of archives, despite the efforts of officials to obfuscate. This article argues that historians increasingly constitute the last forum of accountability and that routine declassification is an important, but neglected aspect of our machinery of intelligence oversight.

Keywords

accountability British intelligence declassification Freedom of Information Act historians openness oversight The National Archives the secret state transparency 20-year rule 30-year rule

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Alagood

(2013) Manning and Snowden: Wakeup call on overclassification. The National Law Journal. Available at: https://www.law.com/nationallawjournal/almID/1202610397417&Manning_and_Snowden_Wakeup_Call_on_Overclassification&slreturn=20130611093454/ (accessed 8 July 2018).

Aldrich

(1998) Did Waldegrave work? The impact of open government upon British history. Twentieth Century British History 9(1): 111–126.

Aldrich

(2002) Grow your own: Cold war intelligence and history supermarkets. Intelligence and National Security 17(1): 135–152.

Aldrich

(2004) Policing the past: Official history, secrecy and British intelligence since 1945. The English Historical Review 119(483): 922–953.

Aldrich

(2009) Regulation by revelation? Intelligence, transparency and the media. In: Dover

Goodman

(eds) Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence. New York: Columbia University Press, pp.13–37.

Aldrich

(2010) GCHQ: The Uncensored Story of Britain’s Most Secret Intelligence Agency. London: Harper Press.

Aldrich

Cormac

(2016) The Black Door: Spies, Secret Intelligence and British Prime Ministers. London: William Collins.

Aldrich

Richterova

(2018) Ambient accountability: Secrecy, spies and the rise of the new oversight in Europe. West European Politics 41(4): 1–22.

Allan

(2014) Records review. Cabinet Office and National Archives. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/records-review-by-sir-alex-allan (accessed 25 August 2017).

10.

Anderson

(2011) Mau Mau in the high court and the ‘lost’ British empire archives: Colonial conspiracy or bureaucratic bungle? The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 39(5): 699–716.

11.

Anderson

(2015) Guilty secrets: Deceit, denial, and the discovery of Kenya’s ‘migrated archive’. History Workshop Journal 80(1): 142–160.

12.

Andrew

(2004) Intelligence analysis needs to look backwards before looking forward. Available at: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/policy-papers/papers/intelligence-analysis-needs-to-look-backwards-before-looking-forward (accessed 8 July 2018).

13.

Andrew

(2010) The Defence of the Realm: The Authorized History of Mi5. London: Penguin.

14.

Andrew

Dilks

(1984) The Missing Dimension: Governments and Intelligence Communities in the Twentieth Century. London: Macmillan.

15.

BBC (2012) Freedom of information: Whitehall warned over ‘bad behaviour’ (UK Politics). BBC News. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-17365222 (accessed 28 August 2017).

16.

Behn

(2001) Rethinking Democratic Accountability. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.

17.

Bennett

(2002) Declassification and release policies of the UK’s intelligence agencies. Intelligence and National Security 17(1): 21–32.

18.

Blair

(2010) A Journey. London: Hutchinson.

19.

Bochel

Andrew

Kirkpatrick

(2014) Watching the Watchers: Parliament and the Intelligence Services. New York: Springer.

20.

Born

Wetzling

(2007) Intelligence accountability: Challenges for parliaments and intelligence services. In: Johnson

(ed.) Handbook of Intelligence Studies. London; New York: Routledge, pp.315–328.

21.

CAB 21/5220a (1963) Letter from J H Collingridge, to A J D Woods. Proposing ‘opening’ of First World War, war office diaries of 1914–18 (National Archives: Kew).

22.

CAB 21/5220b ( 1964) Letter from R W Mason (Librarian) to Chancery. Example of records available in Bonn, Germany and not in UK and reasons to allow historians access in UK (National Archives: Kew).

23.

CAB 21/5223 (1962) Letter from Mr Cary concerning historian access to more documentation (National Archives: Kew).

24.

Calder

(1969) The People’s War: Britain 1939–1945. London: Random House.

25.

Cormac

(2011) A Whitehall ‘showdown’? Colonial office – Joint Intelligence Committee relations in the mid-1950s. The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History 39(2): 249–267.

26.

Dacre

(2009) Review of the 30-year rule. Available at: https://www.30yearrulereview.org.uk/ (accessed 10 August 2017).

27.

Davis

(2012) Secret courts would be a licence to cover up. The Guardian, 15 May. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/may/15/secret-courts-licence-to-cover-up (accessed 20 August 2017).

28.

De Jong

(2015) Official intelligence histories: Is there a problem. Leidschrift 30(3): 83–97.

29.

Dover

Goodman

(2009) Spinning Intelligence: Why Intelligence Needs the Media, Why the Media Needs Intelligence. New York: Columbia University Press.

30.

FCO 12/34 (n.d.) Steering committee paper draft (National Archives: Kew).

31.

FCO 12/39 (1967–1968) State papers departmental records (Includes correspondence with C.J. Child, then Head of the Labour Research Department; the Joint Research Department and Lord Chancellor’s Office, House of Lords), 30-year rule, special review of the F.O. archives for 1923 to 1937: The problem and the task involved (National Archives: Kew).

32.

Freedom of Information Act (2000). Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/36/contents (accessed 20 August 2017).

33.

Gill

(2007) Evaluating intelligence oversight committees: The UK intelligence and security committee and the ‘war on terror’. Intelligence and National Security 22(1): 14–37.

34.

Gill

(2016) Intelligence Governance and Democratisation: A Comparative Analysis of the Limits of Reform. New York: Routledge.

35.

Gillon

(1997) The future of political history. Journal of Policy History 9(2): 240–255.

36.

Grigg

(1954) Grigg report of the committee on departmental records, Royal Commission on Departmental Records, UK p.6 (Cmd 9163).

37.

Hansard (1966) H. L. Vol. 733, col. 1706–1708 (10 August).

38.

Hansard (2011) H. L. Vol. 732, col. 349–371 (10 November).

39.

Hansard (2012a) H. L. Vol. 734, col. 533–548 (17 January).

40.

Hansard (2012b) H. C. Vol. 548, col. 86WS (13 July).

41.

Hansard (2013) H. L. Vol. 747, col. 336–351 (10 July).

42.

Heald

(1996) Is there room for archives in the Postmodern World? The American Archivist 59(1): 88–101.

43.

Hennessy

(2010) The Secret State: Preparing for the Worst 1945–2010. London: Penguin Books.

44.

Hillebrand

(2012a) Counter-Terrorism Networks in the European Union: Maintaining Democratic Legitimacy after 9/11. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

45.

Hillebrand

(2012b) The role of news media in intelligence oversight. Intelligence and National Security 27(5): 689–706.

46.

Hinsley

Thomas

Ransom

CFG

et al . (1979) British Intelligence in the Second World War: Its Influence on Strategy and Operations, vol. 1. London: HMSO.

47.

Historians (1995) FCO library and records: 1782–1995. History Notes LRD 8: 1–34.

48.

Hughes-Warrington

(2013) Revisionist Histories. Oxford: Routledge.

49.

Independent Commission on Freedom of Information Report (2016) Cabinet Office, UK Government. Available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/504139/Independent_Freedom_of_Information_Commission_Report.pdf (accessed 10 July 2018).

50.

Intelligence and Security Committee Evidence Session 1 (2014) Witness testimony transcript, 14 October. Available at: http://isc.independent.gov.uk/public-evidence/14october2014 (accessed 20 January 2015).

51.

Johnson

(2007) Harry Howe Ransom and American intelligence studies. Intelligence and National Security 22(2): 402–428.

52.

Jones

McGarr

(2013) ‘Real substance, not just symbolism?’ The CIA and the representation of covert operations in the foreign relations of the United States series. In: Moran

Murphy

(eds) Intelligence Studies in Britain and the US: Historiography since 1945. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, pp.65–89.

53.

Kamen

(1991) 30 years and out: Historians and civil libertarians Hail Victoria over Bureaucracy. The Washington Post, 31 October, p.A19.

54.

Leigh

(2011) Accountability and intelligence cooperation: Framing the issue. In: Born

Leigh

Wills

(eds) International Intelligence Cooperation and Accountability. New York: Routledge, pp.3–17.

55.

Lewis

(1988) British Military Planning for Post-War Strategic Defence, 1942–47. London: Sherwood Press.

56.

Lomas

Murphy

(2014) Return to Neverland? freedom of information and the history of British intelligence. The Historical Journal 57(1): 273–287.

57.

Lomas

Murphy

(2017) GCHQ – A new authorised history. History & Policy, 16 March. Available at: http://www.historyandpolicy.org/opinion-articles/articles/gchq-a-new-authorised-history (accessed 20 July 2018).

58.

Lucas

(1991) Divided We Stand: Britain, the US and the Suez Crisis. London: Hodder & Stoughton.

59.

McPherson

(2003) Revisionist historians. American Historical Association: Perspectives 41(6). Available at: https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2003/revisionist-historians (accessed 20 July 2018).

60.

Mandler

(2007) The responsibility of the historian. In: Jones

Östberg

Randeraad

(eds) Contemporary History on Trial: Europe since 1989 and the Role of the Expert Historian. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.12–26.

61.

Masterman

(1972) The Double-Cross System in the War of 1939 to 1945. New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press.

62.

Miller

(2014) Revealed: SAS advised 1984 Amritsar raid. Stop Deportations. Available at: https://stopdeportations.wordpress.com/2014/01/13/revealed-sas-advised-1984-amritsar-raid/ (accessed 28 August 2017).

63.

Ministry of Justice (2010) Government response to the 30-year rule. February. Available at: www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/238467/7822.pdf (accessed 3 August 2017).

64.

Molin

(2007) Between scholarship and politics: Experiences from the commission on the Swedish Security Services. In: Jones

Östberg

Randeraad

(eds) Contemporary History on Trial: Europe since 1989 and the Role of the Expert Historian. Manchester: Manchester University Press, pp.81–103.

65.

Moran

(2011) The pursuit of intelligence history: Methods, sources, and trajectories in the United Kingdom. Studies in Intelligence 55(2): 33–55.

66.

Moran

(2012) Classified: Secrecy and the State in Modern Britain. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

67.

Moran

(2015) Company Confessions: Revealing CIA Secrets. London: Biteback Publishing.

68.

MSS.Amer.s.22 6/1 (1962–1998) Papers of Herbert G Nicholas. Bodleian Library Archives, pp.1–52.

69.

Newbery

(2015) Interrogation, Intelligence and Security: Controversial British Techniques. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

70.

Nicholas

(1962) Foreign Historians get first say. The Times, 19 June, 11.

71.

Philby

(1968) My Silent War: The Autobiography of a Spy. Great Britain: MacGibbon & Kee.

72.

Phillips

(2008) Letter from Jonathan Phillips to Paul Dacre (PUS Northern Ireland Office to Dacre Review): Review of the ‘30 Year Rule’, 27 February. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20090516124309/http://www.30yearrulereview.org.uk/evidence/we-northernirelandoffice.pdf (accessed 10 August 2017).

73.

Phythian

(2007) The British experience with intelligence accountability. Intelligence and National Security 22(1): 75–99.

74.

Prescott

(2010) Oral evidence to Sir John Chilcot at Iraq inquiry. 30 July. Available at: http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110805203708/http://www.iraqinquiry.org.uk/media/49704/20100730-prescott-final.pdf (accessed 14 February 2018).

75.

Research Guide: Intelligence and Security Services (n.d.) The National archives. Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/intelligence-and-security-services/ (accessed 20 July 2018).

76.

Reuss

(1993) Historians and policymaking: A view from inside the Beltway. The Public Historian 15(4): 69–75.

77.

Rimington

(2001) Open Secret. The Autobiography of the Former Director-General of MI5. London: Hutchinson.

78.

Roberts

(2008) Blacked Out: Government Secrecy in the Information Age. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

79.

Schmitter

Karl

(1991) What democracy is … and is not. Journal of Democracy 3(1): 75–88.

80.

Schwartz

Cook

(2002) Archives, records, and power: The making of modern memory. Archival Science 2(1–2): 1–19.

81.

Shiraz

(2013) Drugs and dirty wars: Intelligence cooperation in the global South. Third World Quarterly 34(10): 1749–1766.

82.

Smith

(1983) The Shadow Warriors: O.S.S. and the Origins of the C.I.A. New York: Basic Books.

83.

Stafford

(1980) Britain and European Resistance 1940–1945. London: Macmillan.

84.

Taylor

AJP

(1959) Keeping it dark. Encounter, 13 August, pp.40–45.

85.

The Hutton Inquiry Report (2004) Available at: https://fas.org/irp/world/uk/huttonreport.pdf (accessed 14 February 2018).

86.

The National Archives (2016) Retention, May. Available at: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/information-management/retention.pdf (accessed 15 August 2017).

87.

Thurlow

(2000) The charm offensive: The ‘coming out’ of MI5. Intelligence and National Security 15(1): 183–190.

88.

United States Department of State (1981) Memorandum from Kane to Trask: ‘Fast track’ publication of Foreign Relations, 1952–1954, IV (‘The American Republics’), 18 March. Available at: https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus-history/documents/1981-03-18-kane-guatemala-appeal (accessed 20 August 2017).

89.

Van Buuren

(2014) From oversight to undersight: The internationalization of intelligence. Security and Human Rights 24(3–4): 239–252.

90.

Walker

(2003) Just how intelligent? The Guardian, 18 February. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2003/feb/18/highereducation.academicexperts (accessed 27 July 2017).

91.

Walton

(2014) Empire of Secrets: British Intelligence in the Cold War and the Twilight of Empire. London: HarperCollins.

92.

Wark

(1992) In never-never land? The British archives on intelligence. The Historical Journal 35(1): 195–203.

93.

Wright

(1987) Spycatcher. New York: Viking Penguin.

94.

Zamir

(2012) MI6: The history of the secret intelligence service, 1909–1949. Middle Eastern Studies 48(4): 681–683.