How BP’s interests drive UK support for wars, coups and dictators

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 19 July 2023 The Foreign Office is largely captured by global climate polluter BP.  From Iran to Azerbaijan, Iraq to Nigeria, Russia to Venezuela, the UK prioritises the corporation’s profits over a decent foreign policy. Declassified recently revealed that BP has pumped Iraqi oil worth £15bn since the UK and US militaries invaded […]

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 […]

Britain’s 42 coups since 1945

by Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 12 January 2023 The UK has planned or executed over 40 attempts to remove foreign governments in 27 countries since the end of the Second World War, involving the intelligence agencies, covert and overt military interventions and assassinations, Declassified has found. Probably the most well-known coup staged by British intelligence […]

The UK’s 83 military interventions around the world since 1945

Britain has deployed its armed forces for combat over 80 times in 47 countries since the end of the Second World War, in episodes ranging from brutal colonial wars and covert operations to efforts to prop up favoured governments or to deter civil unrest The British military has used or threatened to use military force […]

Like billionaire-controlled media, The Guardian misinforms its readers on the UK’s role in world

By Mark Curtis, Declassified UK, 26 April 2021 Millions of its readers believe the Guardian offers critical, independent reporting that is different to the right-wing, billionaire-controlled UK media. But its limited coverage of British foreign and security policies gives a misleading picture of what the UK does in the world. The paper is in reality […]

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 […]

How the UK press is misinforming the public about Britain’s role in the world

by Mark Curtis Declassified UK, 9 March 2020 Britain’s national press consistently portrays Britain as a supporter of noble objectives such as human rights and democracy. The extraordinary extent to which the public is being misinformed about the UK’s foreign and military policies is revealed in new statistical research by Declassified UK. The research suggests […]

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 […]