After Dark - Out of Bounds - Tony Benn; Democracy vs Secrecy [1989]

Published on 21 Dec 2015

Discussion of the unaccountability of the secret services, with former MI5 and MI6 officers. Live and open ended discussion programme. The official Secrets Act has received royal ascent and will become law shortly after the making of this programme. No one knows how this will work out. This programme might be the last time consequently that these participants are not bound to silence. The panel includes spys, a defence journalist, MI5 member, CIA founder, MPs and MI6 member. Michael Randle and Pat Pottle, who had recently confessed in a book to assisting a prison escape by the spy George Blake, were dropped from this programme ('Out of Bounds', tx. 13/5/1989) after Channel Four was threatened with contempt of court proceedings.

John Underwood, with;
James Rusbridger
Rt Hon Tony Benn MP
Anthony Cavendish
Miles Copeland
Eddie Chapman
Adela Gooch

From Wikipedia;
'The first programme of the third series was titled Out of Bounds: "1988 was the year of the tri-centenary of the Bill of Rights, yet in May 1989, in the shadowy studio of Channel 4's After Dark programme, a group of former British and US intelligence agents discussed the merits and evils of new legislation on official secrets. When this legislation completes its processes through Parliament such a gathering is likely to become illegal.