The facts
MI5 has accepted that it gave evidence based on lies to three courts, and that senior officers were repeatedly dishonest, the BBC reported. The admission marks the first time the security service has confirmed false testimony while defending a violent neo‑Nazi informant whose abuse was uncovered by the BBC. The lies, first revealed by the BBC in February 2025, concerned MI5’s claim that it had adhered to its “neither confirm nor deny” (NCND) policy about the informant’s agent status. In reality, the service disclosed the informant’s status in phone calls in 2020 in an effort to deter the BBC from investigating. A panel of senior judges is now considering contempt of court proceedings against MI5 officers and the service itself. The Goldring report found “serious and systemic failures” in MI5’s conduct, and Director General Sir Ken McCallum has pledged a major reform programme.
Our take
Well, shit. Her Majesty’s Most Secretive Service isn’t just good at hiding secrets from the public; it’s also been hiding them from Her Majesty’s fucking judges. After the BBC gave MI5 a proper kicking, the agency formally admitted that it fed false evidence to not one, not two, but three separate courts. This wasn’t a clerical slip‑up; it was a deliberate, systemic campaign of bullshit designed to shield a violent neo‑Nazi informant on the payroll. The whole saga revolves around MI5’s sacrosanct “neither confirm nor deny” (NCND) policy, a cloak of secrecy they waved in front of judges to keep the informant’s status hidden from a woman he abused. The judges, presumably envisioning steely‑eyed guardians of national security, bought the line and let MI5 keep its secrets. The hilarious, dickhead twist? While MI5 told courts that confirming or denying the snitch’s status would endanger the realm, its own officers were on the phone in 2020 bragging to the BBC about exactly that, trying to scare reporters off the story. So the NCND policy wasn’t a principle; it was a con, a lie told to judges to avoid embarrassment while the truth was whispered to journalists when it served them. The Goldring report’s finding of “serious and systemic failures” is the posh legal way of saying the whole organisation was running a lying‑for‑fascists operation. Now a panel of senior judges is weighing contempt of court proceedings, meaning the spies who lied to protect a Nazi might finally have to answer for it in the very courts they polluted with their dishonesty. Director General Sir Ken McCallum has promised reforms. Great. Maybe start with a new policy: Neither lie to judges nor employ violent racist thugs. It’s less catchy, but at least it won’t make you look like a complete and utter cunt.
