Declassified UK November 2022

Posted: 1st December 2022

November 2022

Hi everyone,

Phil Miller here, Declassified UK’s chief reporter. Last month I visited Kenya to investigate Britain’s impact in the East African former colony. Many of you will already know about the Mau Mau, whose movement for land and freedom was brutally suppressed by British troops at the end of Empire. Although thousands of the survivors received compensation in 2013, there are many other less well known cases where Kenyans are waiting for justice.

I travelled to Kericho, where PG Tips grow their tea. The land, some of the most fertile in Africa, was actually stolen by white settlers during colonialism, and never given back. We will be publishing yy interviews with the displaced community, and on other aspects of the UK role in Kenya, in the coming days and weeks. Thanks to all your support that made this in-depth journalism possible.

My other articles will focus on another region, around Mount Kenya, where the British army has a training camp. Soldiers sparked a forest fire there last year, which damaged the environment for thousands of local people – from farmers to school children – who are now seeking compensation. I met scores of claimants, as well as people maimed or bereaved by UK bombs, and the family of Agnes Wanjiru, who was murdered by a British soldier.

Many of the people I met in Kenya were keen readers of Declassified, and it was inspiring to know how our articles are reaching remote communities that are often on the frontline of abuses by the British state and UK companies.

I’m sure many of you are watching the World Cup and the coverage of Qatar’s human rights record, which mostly overlooks Britain’s substantial military support for the Gulf monarchy. Of course, Qatar is not unique in the region for its policies or relationship with the West. My latest documentary Exiles v Oligarchs, made with Bahraini journalist Moosa Mohammed, highlighted Britain’s deep involvement with repressive regimes from Saudi Arabia to the UAE.

The film is free to watch online, here. Look out for the scenes with Prince Andrew who is out in Bahrain again, where he is friends with its royal family.

Our work this month

It’s good to see the international media finally speaking out more about the terrible persecution of Julian Assange. My colleagues at Declassified have led the way with their coverage, including interviewing Julian’s wife Stella, reviewing an important new book on Wikileaks by our adviser Stefania Maurizi (one of Italy’s best investigative journalists), and exposing yet more irregularities in the extradition process.

Our chief investigator Matt Kennard did a deep dive into the British American Project, a transatlantic power network where the US Embassy (and some say the CIA) try to groom rising stars in the Labour Party. Their intention is to make sure that even if Britain has a left-wing government, it won’t question alliances like NATO.

And as the war in Ukraine leaves us struggling to heat our homes, Richard Norton-Taylor is asking the Ministry of Defence difficult questions about how it spends huge sums of public money on military procurement projects that often don’t work, or aren’t needed.

Our editor Mark Curtis and regular contributor John McEvoy also documented the UK declassified files on the British role in the Vietnam war and in supporting the brutal Shah of Iran.

I also showed that the UK investigation into India’s Golden Temple massacre has been marred by nepotism.  

Our coverage of the fallout from Britain’s war in Libya has continued, with Mark Curtis following the money, to find the British oil companies who are now cashing in on the unstable country. I spoke to community organisers in Manchester who witnessed the fallout from hundreds of British Libyans being allowed to fight against Gaddafi. Many returned with mental health problems, for which there was little support due to austerity. Tragically, some of these former fighters went on to stage terrorist attacks in the UK.

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Stay tuned for more from us until the year is out!

All the best,

Phil Miller