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The Ministry of Defense (MoD) has said it was “wrong” not to provide a comment to a UK declassified journalist and apologized to the media organization in a letter sent to his lawyers this morning.
UK Secretary of State for Defense Ben Wallace also announced separately in Parliament on Monday that he has organized an independent review of the apparent blacklist of Declassified by his department, telling the House of Commons that he is “deeply concerned.”
Wallace, a high-ranking member of Boris Johnson’s cabinet, said he was writing to “advocacy communicators throughout the [ministry]”To make it clear that” the Ministry of Defense that I lead will treat the media with justice and impartiality. “
Last month, Declassified Phil Miller, Staff Reporter saying By Ministry Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Richard Wade: “I understand from the office that we are no longer dealing with its publication.”
Miller was working on a story about the UK’s role in the Yemen war.
The ministry’s refusal to commit to Declassified urged the Council of Europe to problem a level 2 “press freedom alert”.
Leigh Day Law Firm, Tutored By Declassified, wrote to the ministry asking if a blacklisting policy was being applied to the medium. In his response Tuesday morning, the ministry’s director of operations, Mike Baker, wrote that “the Defense Communications Directorate was wrong in not providing a comment to Mr. Miller of Declassified Media Limited on the story he was asking about. “.
Baker added: “We apologize for this.”
The ministry stopped short of admitting any blacklisting policy existed, focusing on the story Miller had sought comment on. Wallace referred only to the “allegations.”
‘Maximum seriousness’
Wallace told the House of Commons that he wanted to make a statement on “recent reports on an approach taken by my department with a media outlet,” referring to Declassified. He said he was dealing with the apparent blacklist of Declassified with “the utmost seriousness.”
The defense secretary also said that “all government media and communication professionals must comply with the proprietary guidelines of the Government Communication Service and the civil service code.” But he added: “I have been deeply concerned that it is alleged that those standards have not always been met in the department.”
Wallace has asked Tom Kelly, a former director general of the ministry, “to lead an independent review to investigate the allegations that have been made and establish what is behind them.”
Declassified Editor Mark Curtis said: “We very much appreciate the apology and the Ministry of Defense’s commitment to a review. UK declassified it has quickly become the leading media organization revealing the UK’s real role in the world, in contrast to an increasingly fawning national press. A vibrant democracy demands that public officials cooperate with journalists acting in the public interest. ”
Declassified suspects that the ministry’s blacklisting began in late July after the outlet sought comment on its exclusive that Britain’s internal and external security agencies MI5 and MI6 were training High-ranking spies from some of the world’s most repressive dictatorships on a military course in the UK.
This was the first time that evidence emerged of the reach of British intelligence officers training security agencies that have been involved in torture and terrorism.
DeclassifiedThe head of investigations, Matt Kennard, spent a week trying to get comment from the ministry for the story and was repeatedly blocked by his press office. Previously, he had provided regular comments for stories in the outlet.
Since its launch in September 2019, Declassified has published dozens of investigations shedding light on British foreign, military and intelligence policies, revealing stories like the UK’s training of the military officers of the Gulf regimes, the role of the intelligence agency GCHQ Playing in British schools and the revelations about greenhouse gases reported by the ministry emissions.
Victoria Brittain, Former Foreign Associate Editor guardian and president of Declassified board, said: “I welcome the Ministry of Defense’s apology along with Secretary of State Ben Wallace’s commitment to an independent review. Uncovering information of public interest that the government would prefer to keep secret is what journalists should do. DeclassifiedJournalists should not be penalized by officials simply for doing their job well. “
Declassified It did not contact the ministry for comment because it has not received official acknowledgment that a blanket blacklisting policy has been withdrawn. DM
Declassified UK is a research organization covering British foreign policy. Follow Declassified in Twitter, Facebook and Youtube. Sign up for Declassified’s monthly newsletter here.
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