The purpose of this statement is to provide an update to the House on MI5’s correction of previously incorrect evidence that it provided to the High Court, the special advocates, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Investigatory Powers Commissioner in relation to the case of agent X. I first notified the House about this matter in my written ministerial statement [Official Report, 12 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 19WS.].
The High Court yesterday made its judgment regarding MI5’s provision of incorrect evidence, in which it had wrongly told the Court that MI5 had never previously confirmed that agent X was a covert human intelligence source. In fact, it had done so on more than one occasion.
The Court has concluded that the High Court, the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner and the associated special advocates were misled by MI5. It criticised MI5 for providing evidence in “a piecemeal and unsatisfactory way” and it also concluded that—once it had been determined that the evidence given to the Court was incorrect—the subsequent investigations carried out suffered from serious procedural deficiencies.
In February, the director general of MI5 publicly apologised to the courts for MI5’s submission of incorrect evidence, and this unreserved apology by MI5 was made again during the court proceedings and has rightly been repeated again yesterday.
I remain deeply concerned that inaccurate evidence was provided to the High Court and Investigatory Powers Tribunal. This was a serious failing by MI5.
The Government accept the High Court’s conclusion that a “further, robust and independent investigation” should take place. I will provide further details to the House in due course.
I have also asked the Attorney General to conduct an internal review of how evidence from MI5 should be prepared and presented in future, to respond to the Court’s specific findings on witness statements in this regard. Alongside this I have asked my officials to review the wider issues raised by this case.
The vital work MI5 does every day keeps our country safe and saves lives in the face of myriad threats. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the work they do. But that is also why it is essential that they always maintain the highest of standards and rigour, including in responding to the courts.
Internal processes at MI5 must improve, starting with the implementation of all recommendations made so far in relation to this case. Director general Sir Ken McCallum has initiated a wide-ranging learning and response programme within MI5, including professional culture to ensure that all its staff—who go above and beyond every day to protect the UK and its citizens—are receptive and thoughtful in response to challenge, and fully understand and value their responsibilities towards oversight bodies. This work will be assured by an external reviewer reporting directly to me.
MI5’s provision of incorrect evidence also arose in the context of legal proceedings in front of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal relating to accusations that agent X committed acts of domestic abuse against their partner, known as “Beth”. Given those proceedings are still ongoing, I am unable to comment on them. However, as I set out in my previous statement, the Government are clear that all organisations must have robust safeguarding policies under continuous review and must take any allegation of domestic abuse extremely seriously. Tackling violence against women and girls is a top priority for this Government and we will use every tool available to target perpetrators and address the root causes of abuse and violence. The public and Parliament must have the highest confidence in the processes in place to protect the most vulnerable and protect those most at risk in society
[HCWS775]