London
The British government has been rocked by a former Cabinet minister’s claim that British spies eavesdropped on U.N. officials before the Iraq war. Clare Short, who resigned as international development minister because she opposed the war, said last week that she had seen transcripts of U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s telephone conversations. She said Britain’s MI-6 spied on Annan in New York at the request of the CIA, which is not allowed to operate on American soil. Prime Minister Tony Blair called Short’s statement “deeply irresponsible,” and other current and former ministers pooh-poohed the claim, saying they had seen no such transcripts. The government is weighing whether to prosecute Short for violating the Official Secrets Act.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 contentious cartoons about Matt Gaetz's AG nominationCartoons Artists take on ethical uncertainty, offensive justice, and more
-
Funeral in Berlin: Scholz pulls the plug on his coalitionTalking Point In the midst of Germany's economic crisis, the 'traffic-light' coalition comes to a 'ignoble end'
-
Joe Biden's legacy: economically strong, politically disastrousIn Depth The President boosted industry and employment, but 'Bidenomics' proved ineffective to winning the elections
