Government seeks to gag BBC over spy story

The lawful row revolves around a really delicate circumstance, recognized to concern British intelligence things to do abroad.

A source stated there would be enormous disquiet ought to the BBC information broadcast go forward. The resource said: “It is really major – there are major risks. The programme would be a large compromise for our safety.”

Pinpointing the spy worried would have “very really serious repercussions for the BBC” and would be “a threat to people’s lives”, the supply mentioned, introducing: “These people are doing really, very complicated jobs in unbelievable circumstances. They are jeopardizing their life. This is not James Bond – these are actual people today.”

The BBC declined to comment on the facts of the story, but explained on Friday night that its reporting was in the general public interest.

A BBC spokesman claimed: “The Lawyer Standard has issued proceedings versus the BBC with a view to getting an injunction to avoid publication of a proposed BBC information story.

“We are not able to comment further at this stage, beyond confirming that we would not pursue any story unless it was felt it was overwhelmingly in the general public fascination to do so and thoroughly in line with the BBC’s editorial criteria and values.” 

A spokesman for the Legal professional General’s Business said: “The Lawyer General has designed an application towards the BBC. It would be inappropriate to remark further more though proceedings are ongoing.

The previous large-profile attempt by an Attorney Common to gag the BBC was in 2007, when Labour’s Lord Goldsmith was granted an injunction about dollars-for-honours allegations amid claims that a broadcast of confidential information and facts would have harmed a Achieved inquiry.

The Governing administration virtually in no way uses the court docket procedure to injunct media organisations on the grounds of nationwide security. 

In the notorious Spycatcher affair in the mid-1980s, the Thatcher administration had sought to avert newspapers from reporting allegations created in the memoirs of Peter Wright, a former senior MI5 intelligence officer. The Federal government ultimately lost its case in 1988.