Thread by @razhael

MI6 and GCHQ may have illegally authorized informants to commit serious crimes in the UK, Britain's spy court said in a newly disclosed judgment.
theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/d…

Earlier this year it was revealed that MI6 had approached the same court and asked it to suppress potentially relevant material.

https://twitter.com/razhael/status/1287837277230706688?s=20

There's a reckoning of sorts happening in the UK over the abuse of undercovers.

The past few years have carried eye-popping revelations about the UK's army of police spies, many of whom tricked women they were targeting into having sex with them.

scotsman.com/news/crime/und…

Last year a challenge to MI5's power to authorize its informants to commit crimes was narrowly defeated by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (Britain's intelligence-and-surveillance court.)
bbc.com/news/uk-508703…

But the idea that MI6 (a foreign intelligence agency!) or GCHQ could have authorized informants to commit crimes *domestically* was new to me - and not a little disturbing.