ah. 2 the united kingdom has long been known for its draconian use of espionage laws, not just to protect the country secrets, but to prevent the league of any governmental information, even if that information does not impact security. even if it s simply embarrass as the government. the u. k. official secrets act was passed into law in 1911. it outlawed making public any information that could in any way, quote aid or assist the enemy on quote. what that meant was opened to broad interpretation. the official secrets act was updated many times over the years. and again, in 1989, not to reform it, but to make it even tougher than 1989 version removed the public interest defense. thus making it impossible for a defendant to stand up in court and explain that what he or she released to the public was done in the public interest, such as reporting a crime that had been classified to keep it secret. in the fall of 2022, the british parliament began consideration of yet another re
dissenter, jacobin the canary and electronic intifada. welcome ahmed. good to have you. thanks so much for joining us. thank you for inviting me, mom and let s start with the need or the lack of a need for changes to espionage laws in the united kingdom that are already among the most draconian in the western world. why is there such interest within the british conservative party to strengthen the official secrets act? what s the basis of this, this movement? and so there are multiple acts that been passed over the years that they want to consolidate into a single one. what they re now calling the national security bell. so just to be clear, it s not just the tory party, although the conservative party, although they re the ones who are, who hold the majority of seats and parliament and therefore control the executive branch of government. um, i mean there are some people like to socialists like jeremy corbin, we ve come out against the bell, but there is majority support fro
ourselves against charges arising from the espionage act. that punitive 1917 law that was meant to protect the country from german saboteurs in the 1st world war. that s a bad situation. the espionage act carries a minimum sentence of 5 years in prison. most people convicted of espionage get between 10 and 20 years in prison. and in extreme cases, the espionage act carries with it the death penalty. but what does it look like when a country, in this case, the united kingdom tries to pass a law that s even tougher than the espionage act? i m john kerry aku will find out in this episode of the whistle blowers. ah. 2 2 2 the united kingdom has long been known for its draconian use of espionage laws, not just to protect the country secrets, but to prevent the league of any governmental information, even if that information does not impact security. even if it s simply embarrasses the government. the u. k. official secrets act was passed into law in 1911. it outlawed making public