THE MENWITH HILL SITE

MENWITH HILL
- POLITICAL ESPIONAGE
The American authorities largely refuse to answer questions about the activities of Menwith Hill, give out information or allow reporters, MPs or MEPs into the base. Meaningful answers to many of the questions that MPs ask about Menwith Hill in the House of Commons are not forthcoming. Many MPs have asked them in the past, including Alice Mahon, Max Madden (Bradford West) and Norman Baker (Lewis). "Codes of Access to Government Information" exemptions are frequently used as a reason for not giving full answers. Among the most prolific questioners of the status and role of Menwith Hill was Bob Cryer, who was MP for Bradford South until his tragic death in 1994 . His final speech to the House [ 18 ], in an adjournment debate, was a succinct rendering of the questions at the heart of the campaign. Questions continue to be asked in the House of Commons but satisfactory answers are very rare.
Margaret Newsham helped to design the ECHELON system and has recently described her work in an interview with Ekstra Bladet in December 1999 [ 19 ]. She said: "We are spying on our own citizens and the rest of the world - even our European allies. If I say 'Amnesty' or 'Margaret Newsham', it is intercepted, analyzed, coordinated, forwarded and registered - if it is of interest to the intelligence agencies."

Mike Frost, who worked for Canadian intelligence from 1972 until 1992 , alleged in February 2000 that, when she was prime minister, Margaret Thatcher used the Echelon network to spy on two cabinet ministers in 1983 [ 20 ]. "(Thatcher) had two ministers that she said, 'they weren't on side,'... so my boss went to London and did intercept traffic from those two ministers," Frost was quoted as saying in the excerpts released by "60 Minutes." [ 21 ] She was able to circumvent domestic laws against spying on citizens by asking another Echelon member to do it for her.

Recent articles in the media (for example "Global Spy Network Revealed" by Andrew Bomford of the BBC [ 23 ] and "Critics Question NSA Reading Habits" by Vernon Loeb of the Washington Post [ 22 ]) indicate that concern over the activities at Menwith Hill is growing. In a recent article [ 24 ] James Bamford suggests that the rapid development of technology (as shown by, for example "New Technology for the NSA" by Suelette Dreyfus [ 25 ] has meant that new laws may be required to ensure proper control over these activities.

A recent US report called for an "undisclosed amount" for upgrades to Menwith Hill but at the same time insisted that the NSA be made to account for its methods of intercepting electronic communications. Commenting on the report House, Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) said: "We direct...the NSA to report in detail on the legal standards that it employs for the interception of communications." Rep. Sanford Bishop Jr. (D-Ga.) said that although NSA is facing "tremendous challenges coping with the explosive development of commercial communications and computer technology...[the agency] has not demonstrated much prowess in coping with the challenge." [ 26 ]

And things of course continue to move on - in a recent interview, Duncan Campbell has suggested that "The code name Echelon is only part of the entire system, and everything seems to indicate that they have switched codes. Last I heard it was 'Magistrand'." [ 27 ]

"No-one concerned about civil liberties can ignore Menwith Hill. Despite many attempts to get answers to questions, it is quite clear that Menwith Hill is not accountable to MPs and therefore not to the British people"
- Alice Mahon MP.

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