A high court judge has found that MI5 gave false evidence to three courts as it faced scrutiny over its handling of a neo-Nazi agent alleged to have attacked his partner.
The government has ordered an inquiry to determine whether the false information was deliberate and therefore a lie, or an innocent mistake, as the Security Service has told ministers it was.
The case revolves around a BBC investigation into a neo-Nazi agent used by MI5, who is alleged to have been violent towards and psychologically traumatised his partner.
The woman, known only as Beth, said he used his status working for MI5 to claim he was above the law.
The government sought an injunction and eventually, in 2022, the BBC ran a version of the story that did not name or identify the foreign-born agent, who was an informant on the far right for MI5.
MI5 told courts its policy of neither confirming nor denying someone was an agent meant it could not discuss the case. However, the BBC said it recorded a call in which a senior MI5 officer broke that policy in an attempt to influence the broadcaster’s coverage.
On Wednesday in the high court, Mr Justice Chamberlain castigated MI5 and said: “There is no contest that the evidence was not just misleading, it was false. Whether or not it was deliberately false is the subject of an investigation.”
Courts were given a statement on behalf of MI5 by one of its deputy directors general.
The woman who complained about the agent, who she says attacked her with a machete, had taken a case to the investigatory powers tribunal.
She wanted the tribunal to investigate MI5’s recruitment and handling of the man she said had abused her. MI5 said its policy of neither confirming nor denying that someone was their agent should stand; the woman’s lawyers said that would frustrate her push for justice.
Two inquiries are now under way: one internally by MI5, the other ordered by the home secretary to be carried out by Jonathan Jones, the former head of the government legal service.
In a statement, Yvette Cooper said: “It is clearly a very serious matter to provide incorrect information to the court and MI5 has apologised directly for this.
“Sir Jonathan Jones KC … will lead the review and ensure that an independent authoritative view can be taken on what went wrong and any actions MI5 needs to take to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.”
Cooper said the use of covert agents was vital to national security. “Covert human intelligence sources – or agents – play a crucial role in that work, and maintaining the secrecy of their identities is essential to protect them, their families, the vital intelligence they provide, and the recruitment of future sources.
“The government maintains and supports the principle of neither confirming nor denying allegations about whether individuals may or may not be operating on behalf of the UK intelligence agencies.”
The revelations led to a rare public apology from the MI5 director general. Ken McCallum said: “It has become clear that MI5 provided incorrect information to the high court in relation to an aspect of our witness statement. As soon as we became aware of the issue, we immediately took steps to correct that part of the statement. We take our duty to provide truthful, accurate and complete information very seriously, and have offered an unreserved apology to the court.
“The use of agents is difficult, human work that is governed by legislation and tightly overseen. It is fundamental to MI5’s ability to keep the UK safe.”
During the saga, McCallum called the BBC director general, Tim Davie, as the two organisations clashed over the story. The BBC has accused MI5 of lying and says it was pressed to drop the story.
Kate Ellis, a solicitor for “Beth”, from the Centre for Women’s Justice, said: “We now understand that MI5 has misled three courts by giving or relying on false evidence – over a period of several years – and this has allowed them to avoid giving ‘Beth’ any meaningful answers. This is in circumstances where Beth’s ex-partner specifically boasted of his MI5 status to Beth, and used this to abuse her.
“Most concerning of all, perhaps, is that the truth has only emerged at all because of a secret recording made by the BBC. Until the BBC disclosed this secret tape to MI5, it appears that MI5 and their lawyers were robustly maintaining their original version of events.”
