MI5 Says It Plays By The Rules. I Hope That's Not True -- A Commentary

Head of MI5 Jonathan Evans in 'informal' mode Photo: PA

From The Telegraph:

The head of Britain's security service insists it always observes human rights. The evidence suggests otherwise - which is a good thing, writes Alasdair Palmer.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about last week's interview with Jonathan Evans, the head of MI5, was the photograph. It was the first time that the security service has provided a picture of the person running it. Mr Evans was in "informal" mode, with an open-necked shirt, a lap-top at his side – and a faint smile upon his lips as he contemplated the threats to British security posed by terrorists.

He looked like a thoroughly normal bloke, and not at all the type you could imagine threatening a suspect, still less ordering assassinations. Mr Evans insists that MI5 adopts a "sensitive" approach to human rights. Its website expands on his theme. It states that "we are committed to legality, integrity, objectivity and proportionality… We do not kill people or arrange their assassination. We are subject to the rule of law in just the same way as other public bodies."

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