Jesus Malverde
Jesus Malverde's JournalRevealed: How British Empire’s dirty secrets went up in smoke in the colonies
In April 1957, five unmarked lorries left the British High Commission in Kuala Lumpur and drove to a Royal Navy base in Singapore with their cargo of files detailing the secrets of Britain’s rule in Malaya. Their destination was, in the words of one official, a “splendid incinerator”.
This “discreet” mission in the closing days of British rule over what became Malaysia was one of hundreds of similar operations. As the sun finally set on the Empire, diplomats scurried to repatriate or destroy hundreds of thousands “dirty” documents containing evidence that London had decided should never see the light of day. Some 50 years later, the sheer scale of the operation to hide the secrets of British rule overseas – including details of atrocities committed during the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya – is revealed in documents released today by the National Archives in Kew, west London.
The so-called “migrated archive” details the extraordinary lengths to which the Colonial Office went to withhold information from its former subjects in at least 23 countries and territories in the 1950s and 1960s.
Among the documents is a memo from London that required all secret documents held abroad to be vetted by a Special Branch or MI5 liaison officer to ensure that any papers which might “embarrass” Britain or show “racial prejudice or religious bias” were destroyed or sent home.
The ramifications of the operation to conceal the resulting archive of 8,800 files – a closely guarded Whitehall secret until the Government recently lost high-profile court cases – are still being felt in compensation claims for victims of atrocities committed under British rule from Kenya to Malaya.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/revealed-how-british-empires-dirty-secrets-went-up-in-smoke-in-the-colonies-8971217.html
Among the documents is a note that officials should carefully control any bonfires of secrets and avoid a situation similar to Indian in 1947 when the local press was filled with reports about the “pall of smoke” which fell over Delhi at the end of the Raj as British officials burnt their papers.
Police close investigation probe into soldier's claims that Diana was killed by the SAS
The investigation into claims that Princess Diana was murdered by an SAS hit squad has been closed.
Scotland Yard conducted the probe over an allegation made by an anonymous soldier that emerged at a trial of SAS man Danny Nightingale for illegal possession of a gun.
Relatives of ‘Soldier N’ said that he had claimed the car crash in Paris in 1997 in which Princess Diana was killed was caused by SAS assassins.
He believed that special forces agents had shone a light into the eyes of Diana's driver Henri Paul - leading to him losing control of the car and hitting a pillar in a tunnel in Paris.
The soldier's claims led to the inquiry into the Princess's death being reopened.
However, the Metropolitan Police is now in the process of 'concluding' the investigation.
A police spokesman said: ‘We are in the process of drawing up conclusions, which will be communicated to the families and interested parties before any further comment can be made.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2516292/Diana-police-probe-Inquiry-soldiers-claims-Princess-killed-SAS-closed.html#ixzz2mC2qCQlx
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Profile Information
Name: Jesus MalverdeGender: Male
Hometown: SF
Current location: Japan
Member since: Fri May 17, 2013, 11:44 PM
Number of posts: 10,274