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The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comme a recent article in the Mirror. In a cynical attempt to save money,personnel sacked the 47 cleaning staff employed in Century House, thenre-employed them on a lower-paid contract basis at Vauxhall Cross. Inan unprecedented move, the justifiably furious cleaners took MI6 to anemployment tribunal with the help of their local MP, Labour backbencherKate Hoey. MI6 used every trick in the book to deny them thisbasic human right, claiming that even the identities of cleaning staffwere too secret to be made public in a court hearing. Eventually, aftera long and expensive legal battle, they were granted access to atribunal, and the Mirror showed a comical photograph of the cleaningladies taking their stand, only a row of sensible shoes visible beneaththe screen which they were forced to stand behind. They quickly won thecase, compensation and their jobs back. It was an embarrassing setbackfor the new directors of MI6, not only publicly but also in terms oftheir standing within the service. They embarked on a damage-limitationexercise, complaining in the internal weekly newsletter and in publiccomments that the Treasury had forced the cuts ùpon them'. It nevercrossed their minds to admit that they had simply ignored basicemployment law and used the OSA to cover up their mismanagement.Walking back across the lobby to the lifts, I spied my old IONECcolleague Bart entering the building, carrying a squash racket in onehand and using the other to push the remnants of a bun into his mouth.`'Allo, mate,' he grinned, flicking away with the back of his hand acurrant which had adhered to the side of his mouth. `You've been inBosnia,' he continued, unabashed.I pointed to his squash racket. `This exercise business, is this somecover job?'`Nah, I've really taken up some sport - have you seen the squashcourt?' Bart showed me through a steel door next to the library exitand through to a small grey-carpeted gymnasium with rowing machines andweights. A portable CD player was thumping out dance music and a large,plump-thighed woman dressed in a too-small, polka-dot leotard wassweating away in time to it on an exercise bike, the seat of which wasset several notches too low. `Phwoar,' murmured Bart, without a traceof sarcasm, `not bad eh?'Bart showed me around the rest of the sports complex. The building'sarchitect originally envisaged using the space for a swimming pool, butthe directors decided that the extravagance would attract adversepublicity. Some ex-military officers lobbied hard for an indoor pistolrange, but eventually commonsense prevailed and the space was used foran indoor five-a-side soccer and badminton sports hall.I had already spent too long looking around the new facilities and itwas time to be getting upstairs to meet my new section. `So what's PTCPlike?' I asked Bart, knowing that he had just departed the section tostart pre-posting training for an assignment to Hungary.`You'll be working for Badger. He likes a few beers.' Bart patted hisstomach knowledgeably, his erudite praise reassuring me that I would bejoining a happy section. I left Bart to get on with his squash matchand made my way over to the lifts.page- 125 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com
The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comThe refreshingly fast lift sped me up to the fourth floor and the doorsopened on to a small lobby with corporate grey carpet tiles and barewhite walls, like a 1980s merchant bank. For a second or two I studiedthe small coloured floor plan conveniently placed by the lift exit,then set off down the labyrinth of corridors to my designated room.The open-plan PTCP office overlooked the building's spacious open-airterrace and the Thames, and accommodated half a dozen officers andsecretaries. A few looked up inquisitively at the newcomer, whileothers kept their heads down in their files or computer screens. Theofficer nearest the door stood up and stretched out his hand. `Hello,you must be Richard Tomlinson,' he said. His tightly curling grey-blondhair was thinning savagely at the temples but still grew thickly on theforehead and at the sides, creating three broad stripes of fur-likehair. I presumed that he must be Badger. `Sit yourself down. I'llexplain what you'll be doing.'Badger had entered the service later in his career than usual. Heobtained a PhD in genetics at Imperial College, worked as a researchscientist, then as a management consultant, before joining the servicein his mid-30s. He was posted first to to Nigeria, then Costa Rica.Badger's enthusiasm and well-rounded work experience made him aneffective officer but he was not destined to be a high-flyer in theoffice - he was not enough of a back-stabber. Ì want you to take overthe running of BELLHOP, the biggest operation in the section,' Badgertold me enthusiastically.After the 1985-89 Iran-Iraq war when Iraqi chemical weapons killed manythousands of Iranian soldiers, the Iranians wanted to build their ownarsenal of chemical and biological weapons, but did not have theindigenous capability. They needed to acquire the technology, equipmentand precursor chemicals from technically more advanced countries.Prohibitions on the export of such materials under internationalconvention did not deter the Iranians from attempting to acquire theequipment clandestinely. Any Iranian national blatantly attempting tobuy banned equipment would instantly attract attention from westernintelligence agencies, so they ruled out that option. Instead, they setabout recruiting a network of western traders and engineers who woulddo their dirty work for them, either unaware of what they were gettingthemselves into or turning a blind eye to its illegality. `Your task,'Badger explained, ìs to inveigle your way into this network undercover then meet and cultivate the Iranian ringmasters.' From then on, Icould take the operation where opportunity led. Badger's hope was touse the infiltration to gather intelligence, perhaps recruiting one ofthe Iranians if the opportunity arose, then disrupt and delay theirprogramme. He tossed me a hefty pink dossier, labelled P/54248. `Readthat and come back to me when you've got a plan.'This was going to be fun, I thought to myself. Loads of freedom todesign my own operation, a really worthwhile objective and a good bossto work under. I set about reading the file on BELLHOPenthusiastically.Reading an MI6 file can be a slow and laborious job. The papers arearranged in chronological order but that is the extent of theirorganisation. They contain a vast jumble of information from manysources. Telegrams, letters, police SB reports, copies of military andpage- 126 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com
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