Word: britishisms
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...think that transparency helps intelligence agencies in the long run? Yes. The idea used to be that you don't want the public to know anything, so you don't tell them anything. What changed a generation ago is that the British people became less deferential, and if they're not given some idea of what's going on, they fall for conspiracy theorists. The best-selling book in the U.S. about British intelligence is, after all, Peter Wright's Spycatcher. A couple of the stories that he put in there that are complete nonsense are still widely believed: that...
...German spies were turned into double agents, and that is the central part of the most successful deception in the history of warfare, without which the D-day landing couldn't have taken place. What I discovered in the files is how it all began - in a characteristically eccentric British way. The most adventurous of the MI5 agents in the 1930s was an air ace from the First World War named Christopher Draper. He's called the "Mad Major," because he was absolutely obsessed with flying under London's bridges. He's invited over to Germany. Hitler is very interested...
Taking a long-term view might also have helped better predict Islamist terrorism in the 21st century. MI5 was slow to realize the potential threat, as it was busy dealing with IRA campaigns in the 1990s. It's not until 2003 that MI5 grasps that the radicalization of minority British Muslims is leading to terrorist attacks on British targets. (See pictures of terrorism...
...Read "British Spies: Licensed...
...Pride event. In his view, sexual orientation has become "a nonissue in the Conservative Party." He adds, optimistically, that equality will soon be so firmly embedded in the party that "in another 10 to 15 years there will be no need for Pride to make a statement." (Read "British Spies: Licensed...