London - A former MI5 officer, Mr David Shayler, will appeal to the House of Lords after losing the latest round in his public-interest defence case concerning charges under the Official Secrets Act, Rachel Donnelly reports.
Mr Shayler was in the Appeal Court yesterday to challenge a High Court ruling that the Act prevented members of the security and intelligence agencies from claiming they were acting in the public interest if they revealed secrets to the media. Charged with disclosing classified information about the phone tapping of the former Northern Ireland secretary, Mr Peter Mandelson, and the Foreign Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, in the 1970s, Mr Shayler claimed the Act was incompatible with human rights legislation which protects free speech.
However, three judges ruled that there was "no basis" on which Mr Shayler could identify actions that created an imminent threat to the public and they said he should have raised concerns about his work with his superiors or members of the government and civil service instead of giving the information to the media.