MI5 must be held accountable for its lies, the families of those killed and injured in the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing have demanded. They said Britain’s internal security organisation must be fully integrated into a new law to prevent cover-ups by state bodies.

MI5 are liars

MI5 lied in a public inquiry into the bombing. The attackers killed 22 concertgoers. A letter from families to UK PM Keir Starmer shown to the BBC said:

How many times must MI5 show that it cannot be trusted before something is done?

The BBC said:

The “Hillsborough Law”, making its way through Parliament, follows campaigning by families affected by the 1989 Hillsborough disaster that claimed 97 lives.

The Manchester families want to make sure MI5 is fully subject to the new legislation.

Campaigning lawyer Peter Weatherby, who has worked with the families and Hillsborough football disaster victims, told the BBC:

The problem was that MI5 decided to protect themselves after the fact, and advance the false narrative.

And that just means that those failures will repeat in the future, and nobody will have confidence in MI5.

If this law is passed and they’re required to tell the truth even when things go wrong, then failures can be rectified and people can be safer in the future.

He added:

MI5 shouldn’t be given a free hand to run a false narrative to protect themselves, rather than to advance truth and justice.

The BBC reported:

During the Manchester Arena public inquiry, and an earlier official review, MI5 provided a false narrative about intelligence it received about the suicide bomber before the attack.

But MI5’s collusion with militants is a much bigger issue than many understand.

A false narrative about intelligence

MI5 knew about the British-Libyan bomber Salman Abedi. Yet they failed to act. Abedi died in the blast. His brother, who was his accomplice in the bombing, is in a British jail.

Yet the Manchester bomber’s story goes much deeper: into the murky underworld of Britain’s shadow wars.

Declassified UK (DCUK) and the Canary helped reveal the extent of British involvement. Abedi’s father was member of  Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). LIFG were Al-Qaeda in Libya. They were once backed by the British because they opposed Libyan dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi.

A Royal Navy ship even rescued Abedi from Libya in 2014. The US, UK, France and others toppled Gaddafi in 2011. Gaddafi’s fall plunged the North African state into war and chaos.

A DCUK editorial from 2022 outlined how the security services hindered the inquiry. The British worked with militant groups to overthrow Gaddafi.  NATO forces even trained Abedi, according to some accounts.

Mate’s rates

MI5 got mate’s rate at the inquiry. The service gave evidence in secret. The authorities limited the questions they could be asked.

There are other questions too:

A related issue concerns the extent to which MI5 and MI6 encouraged radicals such as the Abedis, and other British-Libyans based in Manchester, to fight in that war.

The inquiry didn’t push on any of these questions. Lawyer John Cooper represented the families at the inquiry. He said at the time the intelligence services were:

using national security as an excuse not to answer legitimate questions.

MI5 has had too much freedom for too long. In an democracy the organs of the state should be accountable. The Manchester bombing was just one example of many of imperial blowback. Innocent concertgoer’s fell victim to British foreign policy. There will be more cases like this until basic accountability exists.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

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