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 […]

Business over apartheid: When Thatcher met Mandela

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 31 May 2023 As soon as Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, and with apartheid still in place, UK officials were lobbying him for their business interests in South Africa, declassified files show. British officials feared Nelson Mandela would nationalise South Africa’s economy and lobbied him to […]

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 […]

David Lammy: Washington’s man in Labour

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 12 May 2023 The likely future foreign secretary has been attending elite gatherings in the US while courting MI6 and displaying his establishment credentials on Labour’s foreign and military policy, which is likely to be near-identical to the current government. “If I become foreign secretary I will not hide my […]

How Tony Blair sealed UK relations with Egypt’s dictatorship

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 20 April 2023 Tony Blair’s visit to Egypt in April 1998 was his first trip to the Middle East since being elected prime minister the previous year.  In Cairo, Blair promoted British arms exports, attended the signing ceremony of a new energy deal with British Gas and announced the creation […]

Blair misled parliament over 1998 Iraq bombing, files show

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 17 April 2023 Declassified documents from 1998, when the UK and US bombed Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, show Tony Blair was consistently informed military action was unlawful without UN authorisation. But he told parliament Britain had “the proper legal authority”. Tony Blair and his closest advisers were consistently informed by British […]

On trial for war crimes – Tony Blair’s former allies

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 12 April 2023 Four members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) are being tried at The Hague for war crimes during the 1999 conflict over Kosovo. In that war, the KLA was seen by the UK as terrorists but was covertly and overtly supported by the Labour government. NATO’s bombing […]

How the UK media misinforms us about ‘counter-disinformation’ operations

by John McEvoy and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 5 April 2023 Britain’s media routinely quote private groups countering Russian and other disinformation without saying they are funded by the UK government and directed by people linked to the UK or US foreign policy establishment. The UK government has poured over £25m into private “counter-disinformation” organisations since January […]

UK Foreign Office gives millions to ‘counter-disinformation’ groups

by John McEvoy and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 4 April 2023 The government has provided over £25m to organisations targeting “disinformation”, some of which are directed by former members of the British and US foreign policy establishment and are focused overwhelmingly on official enemies. The UK Foreign Office has poured at least £25m into the […]

Manchester Arena inquiry lets David Cameron off the hook

Phil Miller and Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 3 March 2023 The final report from the public inquiry into the Manchester Arena terrorist attack fails to address any of the key questions about the bomber’s connections to the UK military and intelligence services. The bereaved families have been let down. The final inquiry report, published on Thursday, […]