Parliament & Politics: Straw will not see his MI5 file
SECURITY SERVICE
Your support helps us to tell the story
Our mission is to deliver unbiased, fact-based reporting that holds power to account and exposes the truth.
Whether $5 or $50, every contribution counts.
Support us to deliver journalism without an agenda.
Louise Thomas
Editor
JACK STRAW has admitted that MI5 kept a file on him and labelled him a "political subversive" in the 1970s when he was the president of the National Union of Students.
But the Home Secretary made clear he did not want to see the file, because it would be abusing his position. "It is an accident for which the security service were responsible 25 years ago that I know there is a file on me. But I have not looked through it. I don't think I should have any more rights over that file than any other citizen in the same position."
Allegations that his phone was bugged and a file kept on him were first made by David Shayler, the ex-MI5 agent who revealed a dossier claiming "operational inefficiency" and "management malpractice". He said the former ministers Peter Mandelson and Harriet Harman were also monitored.
In a BBC television programme, How to be a Home Secretary, to be shown on Sunday, Mr Straw professed his confidence in the security service. He was "pretty happy" about the way the service was run, adding that he had regular meetings with the director-general, Stephen Lander.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments