🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1992Sep1.225348.4590@cbnewsh.cb.att.com> wcs@cbnewsh.cb.att.com (Bill Stewart 908-949-0705 erebus.att.com!wcs) writes:

   In article <1992Aug31.105853.17069@cas.org> jac54@cas.org () writes:
   ]	This pales in comparison to that legendary statement in
   ]	the "Spycatcher" trial when the U.K. attorney-general admitted
   ]	that although Sir Martin Hollis hade been head of MI6 "it did
   ]	not mean that the organization existed before he was director-
   ]	general or that it existed after he retired from the position."

This is a masterful example of the British Civil Service at its best.

   I forget if it's the same scandal or a similar one, but in about 1986 a
   British politican was quoted as saying that his organization hadn't
   been lying,  but "we were being economical with the truth" :-)

Actually, it was the the head of the British Civil Service (a
non-political, career civil servant) who said in court that he
personally "had been economical with the truth" wrt to his previous
day's evidence. This was because he was trying to avoid political
embarrassment for Mrs. Thatcher during the Spycatcher.

BTW, the British government is coming close to formally acknowledging
the existence of its security services. New offices for MI5 and MI6
are being built across the River Thames from the Houses of Parliament.
This "disclosure" is also remarkable in identifying their offices.

What's all this got to do with sci.crypt?

		Jim