There is something quintessentially English about the tradecraft of
spying, as history reminds us of events not too dissimilar to those in
play today.
In the late 1560's Francis Walsingham began his
career in subterfuge working with William Cecil to thwart the plots
against the then English monarch, Elizabeth I. Later, in 1572 as the
Principal Secretary to Elizabeth and her chief spymaster, his earlier
work in preventing the subversion of state power became mere opening
gambits in a craft that would include the interception of mail, the use
of informants and even torture, amongst others.
william
Enter the
Scottish independence referendum to be held on Thursday 18 September
2014, which, coincidentally, is the 700th anniversary of the Battle of
Bannockburn in 1314 where the English army were defeated by Robert the
Bruce, King of Scots.
On Friday 13 June 2014, the very antithesis of an auspicious day for the superstitious, The Independent ran a story
about internet trolls 'opening the door' for MI5 dirty tricks in
attempting to subvert the Yes Campaign for Scottish Independence. Jim
Sillars, a former Scottish National Party (SNP) deputy leader said:
It was naïve to think that the security forces were not involved in seeking to influence the outcome of September's ballot which could see the break-up of the UK and that he was personally aware of one secret agent having arrived in Glasgow.Of course, he was referring to the recent online abuse of the author Joanne Rowling who had donated £1m to the Better Together campaign in that the trolls had given MI5 the green light to subvert the will of the Scottish people. He continued:
Are you so naive, that you never think that perhaps MI5 and special branch are taking a role in this campaign? As their function is protection of the British State, they would not be doing their jobs if they were not. There was, and probably still is, a section in MI5 that dealt with the Scottish national movement, headed by Stella Rimington, who became Director General in 1992, and is now Dame Stella.Sillars, went on to accuse the so called 'cybernats', i.e. the online nationalist (Yes Campaign) supporters, of abusing Rowling but also chose to mention that the failed 1979 (Scottish) devolution vote was aided by the CIA from the US Consul in Edinburgh, saying of past and present:
More -
MI5 subversion of state power in Scotland -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net:
http://www.sott.net/article/286357-MI5-subversion-of-state-power-in-Scotland
