CLAUDIA WEBBE speaks out against the lethal mechanics of Britain’s culture-war press
DIRECTED by Gavin Hood and starring Keira Knightley, new film Official Secrets tells the story of Katharine Gun’s brave actions to try to stop the illegal US-UK invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Working as a translator at the secretive intelligence agency Government Communications Headquarters (GHCQ) in Cheltenham, on January 31 2003 the then 28-year-old Gun was copied in to an email from Frank Koza at the US National Security Agency (NSA).
With the US and Britain facing strong opposition at the United Nations to their aggressive stance on Iraq, Koza explained how the NSA was mounting a “dirty tricks” operation to spy on members of the UN security council, in an attempt to gain support for an invasion, and was looking for support from GCHQ.
Media Lens at 25: David Cromwell and David Edwards reflect on a quarter-century of media criticism, explaining why independent journalism is more important than ever
IAN SINCLAIR examines the curious memory lapses across liberal media when it comes to British government crimes
The media present Starmer as staying out of Trump’s war — but we’re already deeply involved in a conflict that sees the US and Israel kill civilians on a huge scale, argues IAN SINCLAIR
On January 2 2014, PJ Harvey used her turn as guest editor of the Today programme to expose the realities of war, arms dealing and media complicity. The fury that followed showed how rare – and how threatening – such honesty is within Britain’s most Establishment broadcaster, says IAN SINCLAIR



