The former head the UK’s security service, MI5, warned the government risked creating a “police state” by exploiting fears over terrorism to erode civil liberties.
Dame Stella Rimington said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia that interfering with people’s privacy played straight into the hands of terrorists.
“It would be better that the government recognize that there are risks, rather than frightening people in order to be able to pass laws which restrict civil liberties,” she said.
“[That is] precisely one of the objects of terrorism: that we live in fear and under a police state,” she said.
Rimington, 73, became the first woman director-general of MI5 in 1992 and was head of the security agency until 1996.
Last year, she called attempts to extend the period of detention without charge for terrorism suspects to 42 days excessive, shortly before the plan was rejected by parliament.
She has also attacked the government’s controversial plans to introduce ID cards, saying they would not make the public any safer.
A Home Office spokesman said in response to her latest warning: “The government has been clear that, where surveillance or data collection will impact on privacy, they should only be used where it is necessary and proportionate.”
Striking a balance between privacy, protection and sharing of personal data was key, he said.
In the interview, Rimington also criticized the approach of the US to fighting terrorism.
“The US has gone too far with Guantanamo and the tortures,” she said. “MI5 does not do that. Furthermore it has achieved the opposite effect: there are more and more suicide terrorists finding a greater justification.”
Rimington said the British secret services were “no angels,” but insisted they did not kill people.
Her remarks came a day after the publication of a study by the International Commission of Jurists, which said that many states had fallen “into a trap set by terrorists” by introducing measures which undermined the values they sought to protect.
The report condemned the use of “notorious” counterterrorism tactics such as torture, disappearances, arbitrary and secret detention.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said yesterday. The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late on Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror. “At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X. Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled