The UK agrees to come to Ukraine’s defence

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 23 January 2024 London’s new security agreement with Kyiv will benefit UK arms exporters, open the country further to western investors and increase “counter-disinformation” operations against Russia. A new agreement signed by Rishi Sunak and Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelensky on 12 January provides UK “security commitments” to Ukraine in the […]

Why does the UK give Israel unqualified backing?

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 21 November 2023 The two key reasons are the need for Whitehall to demonstrate British subservience and usefulness to the US, and the power of the Israel lobby, argues Declassified’s editor. Rishi Sunak’s government has shown extraordinary levels of backing for Israeli military operations in Gaza over the past six […]

US military is secretly supplying weapons to Israel using UK base on Cyprus

by Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 17 November 2023 The US is moving arms to Israel from around Europe using Britain’s vast air base on Cyprus, but the Ministry of Defence refuses to tell Declassified what American aircraft are flying or what weapons are on board. Respected Israeli newspaper Haaretz has reported that over 40 US transport […]

Britain always seeks a profit in wars

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 5 October 2023 The Ukraine conflict is but the most recent case where UK policy-makers and weapons manufacturers seek commercial opportunities from devastating wars – often by arming both sides. When my colleagues Phil Miller and Matt Kennard visited the world’s largest arms fair in London last month, they found weapons manufacturers […]

UK armed Pakistan knowing it was supplying the Taliban, files show

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 14 June 2023 When the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 1996, UK officials knew Pakistan was directly aiding it, but continued to arm the government in Islamabad. British policy aided Osama Bin Laden who was then setting up his terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan. In October 1996, UK prime minister John […]

When Britain backed Iran’s dictator

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 8 November 2022 The UK armed the Shah’s “autocracy” and directly aided his brutal security service in the decades leading up to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, declassified files show. “Iran is an autocracy and all power flows from the Shah”, the British Ministry of Defence (MOD) wrote in an internal […]

Britain’s proxy war on Russia

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 27 September 2022 UK participation in the Ukraine conflict is far-reaching, involving military and intelligence support, arms supplies and information warfare. But as Ukraine makes gains on the battlefield, Whitehall sees the war not only as a way to defend Kyiv but to ensure the strategic defeat of its rival, […]

Britain’s bumbling foreign policy over Taiwan and Ukraine

by Mark Curtis and Richard Norton-Taylor, Declassified UK, 8 June 2022 ‘Global Nato’. Help Taiwan ‘defend itself’. Recover the ‘whole’ of Ukraine. Promote ‘the free world’ – UK foreign policy under Liz Truss has become a series of empty slogans from a declining power desperate to remain a major one. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, foreign […]

Foreign minister James Cleverly accused of breaking ministerial code over arms to Israel

By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 30 June 2021 Britain’s Middle East minister James Cleverly is regularly refusing to provide answers to written questions posed to him by members of parliament, especially on UK arms exports to Israel, contravening House of Commons rules. James Cleverly has been accused of breaking the UK’s Ministerial Code and of […]

As the UK hypes the China ‘threat’, it sells the country billions in military-related equipment

By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 7 June 2021 While British ministers claim China is an increasing threat to UK interests, they have approved the sale of £2.6-billion worth of military and dual civilian/military equipment to the country in the last three years. The exports will likely benefit China’s navy and airforce – as the UK […]