Centre for Women’s Justice (CWJ) welcomes statements made by the Prime Minister and the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office today (16 September 2025), announcing that the Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir John Goldring will lead an independent investigation into MI5 – following revelations of improper conduct in proceedings about a secret agent ‘X’.
The announcement follows the findings of two courts, in July this year, that in legal proceedings against the BBC – and against ‘Beth’, a victim of domestic abuse by ‘X’ – MI5 repeatedly breached its legal obligations, relying on ‘misleading’ evidence and submissions. In particular, MI5 maintained repeatedly that it had never confirmed ‘X’s’ status as an MI5 agent to anyone outside of the agency, whereas in fact – as a recording produced by the BBC later proved – it had discussed ‘X’s’ activities for MI5, in detail, with a journalist.
Both courts also rejected the findings of two initial investigations earlier this year, which had cleared MI5 officers of deliberate wrongdoing, and called for an ‘independent’ investigation from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO). The Prime Minister’s authorisation was required in order for the Investigatory Powers Commissioner to launch an investigation.
It has emerged in the proceedings this year that IPCO was also provided with false information by MI5 about its handling of information about X.
CWJ’s Joint Head of Litigation Kate Ellis, who acts for ‘Beth’, responded to today’s announcement:
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s confirmation that there will be a further investigation to determine how the courts – and ‘Beth’ herself – came to be repeatedly misled. The reliance on false evidence in court is, self-evidently, profoundly serious and raises concerns that there may have been a deliberate contempt of court.
“Given that two previous probes into MI5’s conduct, including a review by the former head of the Government Legal Department, have failed to deliver answers, we hope that the Deputy Investigatory Powers Commissioner will take a new approach, leaving no stone unturned. It is clear that, among other things, his investigation will need to assess very carefully the credibility and reliability of evidence given to investigators by various officers at MI5.”
Beth’s claim against MI5 continues.
ENDS
Notes:
The update from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office
can be read here