Security, scandal and the security commission report, 1981

Lomas, DWB

Abstract

This research note introduces the December 1981 report of the Security Commission. This report was never released with the main conclusions forming the basis of a statement by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, published in May 1982. But the 1981 report is significant for a number of reasons. It was the first major review of government security since the Radcliffe Report of 1961, resulting in a number of recommendations that changed government vetting for the rest of the 1980s. The report also recommended the avowal of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency – a recommendation that proved especially controversial.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 6, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Mar 28, 2020
• Publication Date: Mar 28, 2020
• Deposit Date: Mar 31, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 28, 2021
• Journal: Intelligence and National Security
• Print ISSN: 0268-4527
• Electronic ISSN: 1743-9019
• Publisher: Routledge
• Volume: 35
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 734-750
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2020.1740387
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2020.1740387
• Related Public URLs: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/fint20/current
• Additional Information: Funders : Institute for Historical Research’s Scouloudi Foundation