Unaccountable MI5 is a threat to democracy

Ballymena SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan says that all of society should look at the creation of a huge unaccountable MI5 machine with horror.

He said, “There has to be constant vigilance to protect democracy. Secret services have no instinct to make themselves accountable to the public. Quite the opposite. The shift of national security into an unaccountable MI5 is a typical response to the light starting to shine in murky places.

MI5 are not building a massive new HQ without good reason. The bulk of MI5 intelligence work here will still be concerned with homegrown paramilitaries. They will still run their own agents. It is of crucial significance that there will be no robust oversight or complaints mechanism for this activity. Previously when these aspects of national security were in the hands of the police, they were accountable to the Police Ombudsman. Does any member of the public think that an annual review by a member of the House of Lords is a meaningful substitute?

The Investigative Powers Tribunal looks into complaints about secret surveillance and the like. Of 380 complaints to date, not one has been upheld, and it does not give reasons.

All political parties should join in protest at this hugely important weakening of democracy. Unionist parties here traditionally tend to side with “law and order” agencies in an unthinking way. They do no service to the community in doing so. We must all demand real accountability for MI5.”