Major spy case collapses in London

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A major spy trial has collapsed in London after the government essentially bottled it. Two men accused of spying for China were set to appear in court, but the case was suddenly thrown out this week over a legal technicality.

The CPS (heading up the case) was planning to use a key line in the Official Secrets Act around passing information to “enemy” states as the basis for their prosecution. For that line of attack to work, they needed the government to go on record saying China was an enemy at the time. The problem is No. 10 refused.

So the case collapsed.

Legal experts have weighed in, saying the whole “enemy” thing is BS: there’s no official list of enemies and the courts can decide that themselves.

For the second time in a few months this legal-obsessed government has hidden behind the “law” to avoid making brave decisions in British national interest. First came the Chagos debacle and now this. Unimpressive.

After two years of war, Israel and Hamas have signed a “first-phase” ceasefire and hostage exchange under the US-brokered Trump plan. The deal covers Israeli captives, a partial Israeli pullback and a new body to run Gaza. On paper, it’s the closest either side has come to peace, but in reality it raises more questions than answers. Worth remembering that Hamas is actually split between its leaders abroad (who want to stay politically relevant) and commanders in Gaza, who hold the weapons. Many field units operate independently and may well ignore orders to hand over arms.

The situation is further complicated by growing speculation that Hamas has lost track of the hostages’ locations. Whether the group can actually enforce the truce is unclear, and Israel’s far-right is already getting restless. History suggests the hardest parts always come after the signing.

This time the beloved Larkhill was the target. On Saturday, some real professionals managed to gain access to one of the UK’s biggest military installations - Larkhill Garrison - by cutting through a fence. They seemed less interested in the world-class artillery pieces however, instead siphoning a load of fuel from a contractor’s oil tanker parked on site.

This comes at a time when security is supposedly heightened at military bases across the UK, in light of the Brize Norton fiasco earlier this year, when Palestine Action caused millions of pounds’ worth of damage to aircraft. Five people are still in custody over the incident.

Big events from the past, covered in brief and probably inaccurately.

On October 6, 1939, Hitler returned to Berlin from Warsaw and addressed the Reichstag. Framing the speech as a peace offer to Britain and France, he boasted about Germany’s conquest of Poland and claimed the war was forced on Germany by Polish provocations. His “peace” came with one condition: recognition of Germany’s territorial gains and influence. Swear we’ve heard similar things recently somewhere…

The Allies weren’t fooled and Britain and France rejected the offer. The speech was one of Hitler’s last attempts at diplomacy before fully committing to further aggression in Western Europe.

Changing things up? This is where we briefly look at career options from across the civvy world - everything goes here so expect some absolute drivel. Sometimes Forces Assist can help place you, sometimes we can’t. Either way we can offer advice.

Pensions aren’t really something you need to consider in the military world because they are so flippin’ good. On civvy street it’s a bit more complex.

We talked about this in detail on our Insta:

Over at Forces Assist we’re always looking for qualled up drivers nationally. If you have driving qualifications and are looking for work then head to forcesassist.com to start conversations.

Cheers,

Team Forces Assist