Europe

Leaked internal emails reveal that Britain’s domestic intelligence agency, MI5, has secretly lobbied to weaken a proposed law that would criminalize public officials for misleading or concealing information from inquiries. The correspondence, obtained by The Grayzone and revealed in a report by the investigative outlet on Saturday, points to the agency’s attempts at sabotaging the proposed Hillsborough Law. It showed how MI5 had sought either an exemption for intelligence services or the legislation’s outright rejection by the House of Lords.

The Lords can delay the legislation for up to a year or seek amendments before voting on it. Secret lobbying and parliamentary allies The report pointed the finger at MI5 Director General Ken McCallum and former agency chiefs for coordinating with ministers and peers to prevent intelligence officers from being fully bound by such legal obligation. In one email, McCallum acknowledged that opposing the legislation was politically difficult because it was “a [very] hard bill to oppose politically” as it “looks like one is against telling the truth.”

Nevertheless, he said the MI5 had been arguing that it could cause “serious damage to [national security].” The agency claimed it could expose intelligence officers to legal proceedings and discourage international partners from sharing sensitive information. The emails also reveal that McCallum privately sought “to negotiate a bearable version of the Hillsborough Law” with Prime Minister Andy Burnham before his administration took office.

Former MI5 directors-general Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, Andrew Parker, and Jonathan Evans were also involved in efforts to cultivate parliamentary opposition, the report noted. Previous scandals fuel concerns The agency’s opposition comes amid controversies over its handling of the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and its relationship with an IRA informant known as Stakeknife, who was also a serial killer and pedophile. An official investigation into the Manchester bombing found that MI5 had missed significant opportunities to prevent the attack, which killed 22 people.

Meanwhile, the Operation Kenova investigation, whose findings were published in December 2025, criticized MI5 for concealing the extent of its relationship with Stakeknife. MI5 also faced scrutiny after the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office reported in July 2026 that senior officials had repeatedly denied providing the BBC with the identity of another informant, known as Agent X, despite having done so. The Hillsborough Law is named after a 1989 stadium disaster that killed 97 Liverpool supporters.

Subsequent investigations established that the police had falsified and suppressed evidence to shift blame onto the victims.