James Cleverly: The UK’s dictatorships man

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 16 May 2023 The foreign secretary claims his role is ‘defending democracy and freedom’ around the world. In fact, he’s Whitehall’s point man for backing several of the world’s most repressive regimes, as his own tweets show. When James Cleverly was reappointed foreign secretary last October, he tweeted he was “honoured” to […]

Charles of Arabia: How Britain’s next king bolsters autocratic Gulf regimes

By Phil Miller and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 24 February 2021 The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, has held 95 meetings with eight repressive monarchies in the Middle East since the ‘Arab Spring’ protests of 2011 threatened their power. Charles has played a key role in promoting £14.5-billion worth of UK arms exports […]

Sky News acts largely as a platform for the UK defence and foreign ministries, research finds

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 1 February 2021 Declassified UK’s analysis of the written outputs of three of Sky News’ principal foreign affairs journalists has found that the media outlet acts largely to amplify the views of the British Ministry of Defence and Foreign Office, while rarely offering critical, independent analysis. A study by Declassified, […]

British government ministers have been complicit in millions of deaths since 1945, so don’t be surprised that they won’t face justice over coronavirus

By Mark Curtis Declassified UK, 2 May 2020 The UK government’s failure to provide protective equipment to all health staff treating coronavirus victims prompts questions whether ministers are legally culpable for failing to prevent deaths. But UK ministers routinely act with impunity and every prime minister since 1945 has been complicit in deaths abroad. At […]

The UK’s secret military unit that answers to Saudi Arabian commanders

By Matt Kennard and Mark Curtis Declassified UK, 28 October 2019 The UK military has a team of high-ranking soldiers embedded in the Saudi Arabian armed forces who are believed to be taking their orders from Saudi commanders, it can be revealed. The British programme, details of which have long been kept secret from the […]

How the British establishment is working to keep Bahrain’s ruling family in power

By Mark Curtis and Matt Kennard Declassified UK, 17 October 2019 The British military and intelligence establishment is playing a key role in fortifying the repressive regime in Bahrain, it can be revealed. Influential British figures, including former senior UK military officers and the former MI6 controller for the Middle East, have been advising the […]

British government continues to aid repression in human rights-abusing countries, new data shows

by Mark Curtis and Matt Kennard Declassified UK, 20 September 2019 The British government is continuing to approve the export of hi-tech surveillance equipment and software of the type that is being used by states abusing human rights to monitor and repress dissent, new government figures show. The government’s exports of “telecommunications interception equipment” to […]

Bahrain: Declassified

Articles Ian Henderson/torture ‘Classified document on Bahrain rankles Britain decades later’ (Reuters, 21 May 2015) ‘Britain’s special relationship with Bahrain’ (Al-Bab, 18 May 2015) ‘Judge Orders Further Partial Release Of Henderson Files’ (Bahrain Watch, 17 May 2015) ‘Campaigners lose battle to release cable detailing historic UK relations with Bahrain’ (Independent, 17 May 2015) ‘Government refuses […]

The UK’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund: Diverting Aid and Undermining Human Rights

Report for Global Justice Now (December 2017) The UK government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF) raises all kinds of questions about the future of UK aid, the nature of the UK’s relations with states abusing human rights and the government’s openness with the public. Established in 2015, the CSSF is a £1 billion annual […]

Why protests against Trump should be widened to change current UK foreign policy

by Mark Curtis I completely support the protests and opposition to Trump. At the same time, the British government in its foreign policy is now operating outside of any serious democratic control, and is: promoting covert wars in seven countries violating international law in several areas regularly lying to parliament on its actions deepening alliances […]