The home secretary has said MI5 giving false evidence to multiple courts was a "serious failing", as she accepted a further investigation should take place. Yvette Cooper, who is responsible for the Security Service, made a written statement to Parliament a day after the High Court ruled MI5's explanations for its false evidence were deficient and unreliable. She said the government accepted the High Court's conclusion that a "further, robust and independent investigation" should take place. A panel of three senior judges, including the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr, on Wednesday rejected two official inquiries into the false evidence. One inquiry was commissioned by Cooper and the other was carried out internally by MI5. The two reviews took place afterthe BBC revealed MI5 had lied to three courtsin a case concerning a neo-Nazi state agent who abused women. The flawed reviews cleared MI5 of deliberate wrongdoing. Wednesday's High Court judgement said the new investigation should be carried out under the auspices of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Sir Brian Leveson, who has oversight of MI5's surveillance activities. His office, IPCO, was also provided with false evidence by MI5 in the case. The Home Office has refused to answer questions about the position of MI5's third-in-command, the director general of strategy, whose witness evidence was found by the High Court to have been neither fair or accurate and to have omitted critical information, which had to be forced out of MI5 by the court. Cooper did not mention the senior spy in her statement. She said she remained "deeply concerned" about what happened, and that "internal processes at MI5 must improve, starting with the implementation of all recommendations made so far in relation to this case". She added that she has asked the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, to conduct an internal review of how "evidence from MI5 should be prepared and presented in future". "I have asked my officials to review the wider issues raised by this case," she added. The case began in 2022 with an attempt to block the BBC from publishing a story about a neo-Nazi agent known as Agent X. He used his role to coerce and terrify his former girlfriend - known publicly as "Beth" - and had attacked her with a machete. MI5 gave evidence to three courts, saying that it had never breached its core secrecy policy of neither confirming nor denying (NCND) that X was a state agent. But in February, the BBC was able to prove withnotes and recordings of phone callswith MI5 that this was false. When we first exposed the abuse by Agent X in 2022, Cooper – then shadow home secretary – said in a BBC interview that the report "showed very disturbing images of abuse, and domestic abuse is a horrible crime". "I think, given the seriousness of this, the home secretary needs to make sure there is an independent assessment of the handling of this case," she added. In a statement to Parliament on Thursday, she said she was "unable to comment" on a case against MI5 brought by Beth, involving "accusations that Agent X committed acts of domestic abuse against their partner". But she added that the government was "clear that all organisations must have robust safeguarding policies under continuous review and must take any allegation of domestic abuse extremely seriously".
MI5 false evidence was a serious failing, Cooper says
TruthLens AI Suggested Headline:
"Home Secretary Yvette Cooper Calls MI5's False Evidence a Serious Failure"
Bbc News
8.0
TruthLens AI Summary
The Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, has acknowledged that MI5's provision of false evidence to multiple courts represents a significant failure within the agency. This statement follows a High Court ruling that deemed MI5's explanations for its misleading testimonies as inadequate and untrustworthy. Cooper emphasized the government's acceptance of the court's directive for a 'further, robust and independent investigation' into the matter. The High Court's judgment came after the BBC revealed that MI5 had lied in a case involving a neo-Nazi state agent, referred to as Agent X, who was implicated in severe abuse against women. Previous inquiries, including one commissioned by Cooper herself and another internal review by MI5, had exonerated the agency of intentional wrongdoing, but these findings were rejected by a panel of three senior judges, including Lady Chief Justice Baroness Sue Carr. The judges mandated that the new investigation be overseen by Sir Brian Leveson, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, whose office had also received false evidence from MI5 regarding the case.
In her statement to Parliament, Cooper expressed her deep concern over the failures within MI5's internal processes and highlighted the need for immediate improvements. She has requested that the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, conduct an internal review to enhance the preparation and presentation of evidence from MI5 in future cases. The controversy centers around the agency's handling of Agent X, who used his state agent status to intimidate and abuse his former partner, known publicly as 'Beth'. The BBC's investigation in February revealed that MI5 had misled courts by claiming it had not breached its secrecy policy regarding Agent X's status. Cooper, recalling her earlier comments on the disturbing nature of domestic abuse, underscored the necessity for robust safeguarding policies within all organizations, particularly in light of the serious allegations against Agent X. While she refrained from commenting on the ongoing case involving MI5 brought by Beth, she reaffirmed the government's commitment to addressing allegations of domestic abuse with utmost seriousness.
TruthLens AI Analysis
You need to be a member to generate the AI analysis for this article.
Log In to Generate AnalysisNot a member yet? Register for free.