Understanding British Secret Intelligence with Dr. M Hanif Majothi (Part 1)

Understanding British Secret Intelligence with Dr. M Hanif Majothi (Part 1)      

Black Spy Podcast number 264 Season 27, Episode 0002

THE BLACK SPY PODCAST — SPECIAL THREE-PART SERIES

Who really created Britain's secret intelligence system?

In this compelling three-part series, Carlton King is joined by Dr. Mohamed Hanif Majothi to examine the origins of one of the least understood — yet most important — institutions in British national security: Metropolitan Police Special Branch.

The conventional history places its creation in 1883. Dr. Majothi challenges that accepted date, arguing that 1887, when funding was provided for the organisation, is the more meaningful starting point.

But the discussion goes much further than dates.

Carlton and Dr. Majothi trace the extraordinary chain of development from Special Branch to MI5, MI6 and ultimately the wider intelligence architecture incorporating military intelligence and GCHQ — examining how these organisations evolved, overlapped and operated alongside one another.

And there is a crucial question at the heart of the series:

Why is the police role in British secret intelligence so rarely acknowledged today?

Special Branch was not simply another police department. For generations, it sat at the intersection of policing, intelligence, counter-subversion, terrorism and national security, investigating and monitoring organisations and individuals considered threats to the British state.

From the late 19th century, through the First World War and beyond, Carlton and Dr. Majothi explore how those early intelligence practices helped shape the organisations that followed — and how Special Branch personnel and expertise contributed to the development of Britain's emerging intelligence services.

The story also reaches far beyond Britain.

At the height of the British Empire, Britain possessed an extraordinary global reach, giving its intelligence and security organisations an international dimension unlike almost any other system of the period. The series considers how the British model developed — and how it differed from systems emerging in countries such as France and, later, the United States.

Finally, the discussion brings the story into the 21st century, examining what happened when Metropolitan Police Special Branch disappeared in 2006 and only some of its functions were poorly absorbed into the modern Counter Terrorism Command, albeit this later history will be looked more closely in future episodes.

Was something more than a name changed?

Has the policing contribution to Britain's secret intelligence history effectively disappeared from public consciousness?

And what does that mean for the way we understand Britain's national security machine today?

So listen now to The Black Spy Podcast to be educated in a manner that the mainstream media is failing to do so.

If you wish to discuss this episode or any other with Carlton, or other regular members of the Black Spy Podcast team, feel free to do so.

And please don't forget to subscribe in order to never miss another episode.

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To read Carlton's latest biographical memoir:

Seeking Jerry

The Untold Story Of Scotland Yard's Secret Mission To Baghdad, During The 2003 US Led Invasion Of Iraq

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