War, intelligence and what the British state kept secret
Suez, Bloody Sunday, Iraq WMD and other cases where the British state kept secrets or its official account changed.
The Suez Crisis 1956
Cover-up
Britain publicly presented its intervention as peacekeeping while secretly coordinating plans with France and Israel.
The Mau Mau detention camps in Kenya 1950s–2013
Cover-up
Decades later, records and litigation exposed extensive abuses under British colonial rule, leading to a government settlement.
The hidden colonial archives 2011–2013
Concealment
Thousands of previously undisclosed colonial-era government files were transferred to the National Archives.
Nuclear testing at Christmas Island 1950s–2020s
Disputed safety assurances
Veterans challenged official treatment of their experiences and potential exposure for decades; some health-effect claims remain contested.
The Windscale nuclear fire 1957
Concealment
The response to Britain's serious nuclear accident included restricted disclosure and an initially unpublished technical inquiry report.
British nuclear weapons testing in Australia 1950s–1980s
Institutional failure
The Australian McClelland Royal Commission documented major concerns about British nuclear tests and their consequences.
The Northern Ireland internment policy 1971–1975
U-turn
Detention without trial was defended as a security measure but eventually abandoned amid controversy and evidence of its damaging consequences.
The Ballymurphy killings 1971–2021
Discredited account
Fresh inquests concluded that the ten people whose deaths were examined were entirely innocent and had been killed without justification.
Bloody Sunday 1972–2010
Discredited account
The Saville Inquiry overturned core aspects of the earlier official explanation and found the shootings unjustified.
The five techniques of interrogation in Northern Ireland 1970s
Legal reversal
British interrogation practices were investigated and condemned as ill-treatment, prompting changes in policy.
The Stalker inquiry and shoot-to-kill allegations 1980s
Disputed official account
Investigations raised serious questions about police shootings and the handling of evidence; allegations of a general shoot-to-kill policy were not conclusively established.
The Gibraltar IRA shootings 1988–1995
Legal challenge
The European Court of Human Rights found that Britain's planning and control of the operation breached the right to life.
The Pat Finucane murder 1989–2012
Collusion
The de Silva review found significant levels of state collusion in the solicitor's murder.
The Brian Nelson intelligence scandal 1980s–1990s
Collusion
The role of a British military intelligence agent inside loyalist paramilitary organisations revealed deeply troubling intelligence relationships.
The Iraq weapons-of-mass-destruction dossier 2002–2004
Discredited claims
Strong public claims about Iraq's weapons programmes were not borne out by the post-invasion investigation.
The 45-minute Iraq weapons claim 2002–2004
Discredited claim
A prominent intelligence assertion was later criticised for its presentation and the underlying uncertainty.
The Iraq War planning process 2002–2016
Institutional failure
The Chilcot Inquiry found that military action occurred before peaceful options had been exhausted and that the threat was presented with unjustified certainty.
British involvement in rendition and detainee mistreatment 2001–2018
Institutional failure
Parliamentary investigations exposed cases in which UK intelligence agencies were involved in, or knew about, mistreatment of detainees.
The UK's Libyan rendition cases 2004–2018
Institutional failure
Revelations of British involvement in the transfer of Libyan dissidents led to official apologies and settlements.
Last reviewed: 12 November 2026.