UK: MI5's "file destruction programme"
01 November 1998
Home Secretary Jack Straw announced in July that MI5 destroyed 175,000 files in the period between its formation in 1909 and the early 1970s. File destruction then ceased because of concerns that investigations into espionage cases had been impeded. But the file destruction programme was resumed following the end of the cold war in the early 1990s. Since then, more than 110,000 files have either been destroyed or earmarked for destruction. The latest revelations follow Straw's announcement in February 1998 that he was allowing MI5 to decide for itself which files to destroy, and which to keep for operational, statutory or historical reasons (see Statewatch, vol 8 no 2).
The destruction figures suggest that MI5 has, since 1909, compiled over 925,000 files on individuals and organisations for one purpose or another, a figure which is equivalent to 1.6 per cent of the current UK population. The Police National Computer currently holds information on 5.7 million individuals, or about ten per cent of the population. MI5's present file holdings are said to be "about 440,000", of which 230,000 are "closed", meaning that "Security Service officers may use them where necessary in the course of their current work, but may not make inquiries about the subjects of the files". Around 35,000 files relate to matters internal to the Service, including personnel. Another 75,000 files relate to people or groups who have received protective security advice but have never been the subject of direct investigation by the Service. The remaining 100,000 files consist of 40,000 subject/organisation files and 40,000 files which have been reduced to microfilm and placed in a "restricted" category "to which Security Service staff have access only for specific research purposes". This leaves 20,000 "live" files relating to individuals who "may be under current investigation". The table below indicates that the majority of these files concern "terrorists"
Category Number of files
Foreign nationals,
mainly foreign intelligence
personnel and
terrorist groups 7,000
UK citizens, terrorist suspects 7,000
UK citizens, espionage, nuclear
proliferation and serious crime 6,000
Replying to Julian Lewis' questions concerning the preservation of MI5 records on the 1926 General Strike and the 1984-5 miners' strike, Straw has stated that it is not in the national interest to reveal whether the Security Service holds records on any particular individuals or organisations. In July, Straw revealed that he had asked the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Council on Public Records to review the criteria used by MI5 to select material for historical preservation or destruction.
Further concerns about the lack of accountability of MI5 have been voiced by Labour MP Yvette Cooper who is a member of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC, appointed by the Prime Minister under the 1994 Intelligence Services Act). Cooper publicly complained in November that the ISC cannot do its job because the intelligence agencies (and Ministers) themselves decide what information to give the Committee: "how can we have proper oversight if the very people whom we are supposed to be overseeing are determining what information we get?". The ISC has specifically recommended that personal files which the agencies wish to destroy should be checked (for historical interest) by an independent body but it appears the government has rejected the idea. Cooper argues that "if the only objection to independent checks is that they are too bureaucratic, we should keep all the files. They should be put in a vault or microfiched; we must not destroy those old subversive files for good on the say-so of the Security Service... We have all heard the allegations about the monitoring of so-called subversives in the 1970s and 1980s... all sorts of outrageous things may have happened. The point is that future generations<