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Deep state of anxiety
Richard Norton-Taylor's book on the secret intelligence services raises worrying questions about their intentions and fitness for purpose, says JOE GILL
PROTECTING THEIR OWN: Armed guard outside Parliament following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing by Salman Abedi, previously assisted by the security services
[Katie Chan/Creative Commons]
This year’s Venice Biennale marks a major shift in European cultural politics suggests CLARE CAROLIN
ANGUS REID applauds the potential of an ambitious show about Gaza, and encourages it to keep its nerve
MATTHEW HAWKINS considers the opening offering at the National Festival of Korean Dance
ANDY HEDGECOCK welcomes an effective and entertaining overview of those who see erroneous ideas as self-evident truths
KENNY MacASKILL welcomes that rare thing: a readable analysis and explanation of the capitalist economy
The State of Secrecy: Spies and the Media in Britain
by Richard Norton-Taylor
(IB Tauris, £20)
IN 1985 my late father Ken Gill had a meeting with Cathy Massiter, a whistleblower from GCHQ, Britain’s eavesdropping centre in Cheltenham.
As he told me afterwards, Massiter recited a personal conversation between him and his sister that, word for word, took place at our home. It was entirely mundane and proof of the fact that our house had been bugged by the security services and that GCHQ was listening in.
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