Britain to Appeal Ruling on Spy Book
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LONDON — The British government announced Monday that it will appeal an Australian court decision allowing former secret agent Peter Wright to publish his memoirs.
“I am confident that we have a better than even chance of success,” Atty. Gen. Michael Havers told Parliament.
He said the government will appeal last week’s decision by the New South Wales Supreme Court over the book by the former member of Britain’s MI-5 counterespionage agency.
The Conservative government tried to suppress the book, “Spycatcher,” on the grounds that Wright was bound by a lifelong oath of secrecy, any violation of which could undermine international confidence in Britain’s intelligence services.
Wright, 71, is in a hospital in Australia, where he lives in retirement, suffering from high blood pressure.
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