Spies, terrorists and mercenaries

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The good, the bad and the murderous from the world of intelligence agencies and secret wars. Five different Story Files.

UK agencies

UK agencies - General
This material was part of a long campaign by a small number of MPs, lawyers and journalists to force the UK's secret state to be accountable for its actions - to the courts and to parliament. Four Story files and ten individual stories.

Spying on UK activists
Exposing multiple cases of lawful political activity being targetted by UK security and police agencies.

Spying on UK activists - General
Exposing multiple cases of lawful political activity being targetted by UK security and police agencies.

Robin Robison
Robison worked at the heart of British intelligence and risked prosecution to disclose improper surveillance of targets from an elderly peace activist to the Pope. See also Defending the Realm in Videos on this site.

Phone tapping
Confronting the UK's use of phone-tapping without legal authority.

MI5
Exposing the UK security service which hid its weaknesses and excesses behind a screen of official secrecy.

MI5 - General
Exposing the UK security service which hid its weaknesses and excesses behind a screen of official secrecy.

'Police State' series
A ground-breaking three-day series exposing some of the detail of MI5's operations against British citizens engaged in lawful activism.

GCHQ
The history of problems at Britain's most powerful and intrusive espionage agency, culminating in the disclosures of the US whistle-blower Edward Snowden.

Spies penetrating UK agencies

Spies penetrating UK agencies - General
Cases - big and small, proved or merely suspected - when hostile intelligence services breached the security of UK agencies. Five Story Files and one individual story.

Peter Wright's allegations
Stories based on the evidence of the former assistant director of MI5 who accused his own boss and a prime minister of being part of a Russian spy ring.

Michael Bettaney
The strange and revealing case of a conservative MI5 officer who secretly converted to radical Marxism and set out to expose Britain's secret state.

Geoffrey Prime
The traumatic case of Geoffrey Prime - secret servant, paedophile and Russian spy.

Hugh Hambleton
The professor who was a spy - and who could not stop talking about it....

Rhona Ritchie
The prosecution of a woman whose crime appeared to be little more than having a relationship with the wrong person.

US agencies

US agencies - General
Glimpses into the world of the vast global intelligence apparatus of the United States. One Story File and fifteen individual stories.

Iran Contra scandal
Investigating the Reagan administration's involvement in illegal arms deals and the funding of terrorism and, in particular, the role of a British mercenary company.

Mercenaries

Mercenaries - General
Soldiers for hire: from freelance thugs in search of easy money to high-end security companies engaged in assassination and secret warfare. Two Story Files and five individual stories.

Security companies
How former members of British special forces created a deadly new industry.

KMS
Exposing the scandalous secrets of the UK company which led the way in selling the skills of war.

Terrorism

Terrorism - General
Investigations and human stories from the waves of terrorist attacks in the UK. Two Story Files and three individual stories.

Inside the IRA
An inside track on the war between UK mainland police and the Provisional IRA. Two Story Files and seven individual stories.

Inside the IRA - General
An inside track on the war between UK mainland police and the Provisional IRA. Two Story Files and seven individual stories.

GB Brigade series
Exposing the IRA teams who bombed the UK mainland in the 1970s and 80s.

Brian Keenan
The trial and conviction of the IRA's director of operations.

Libyan
Exposing the Libyan diplomats who committed murder in the UK.