Security, scandal and the security commission report, 1981. Issue 5 (28th July 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Lomas, Daniel W. B.
• Is Part Of: Intelligence and national security. Volume 35:Issue 5(2020)
• Page Start: 734
• Page End: 750
• Publication Date: 2020-07-28
• Subjects: Espionage -- Periodicals; Intelligence service -- Periodicals; National security -- Periodicals; 327.12
• DOI: 10.1080/02684527.2020.1740387
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0268-4527

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This research note introduces the December 1981 report of the Security Commission. This report was never released with the main conclusions forming the basis of a statement by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, published in May 1982. But the 1981 report is significant for a number of reasons. It was the first major review of government security since the Radcliffe Report of 1961, resulting in a number of recommendations that changed government vetting for the rest of the 1980s. The report also recommended the avowal of Britain's foreign intelligence agency – a recommendation that proved especially controversial.