Declassified UK January 2023

Posted: 2nd February 2023

January 2023

Hi all

I’m Joe Glenton, a journalist, former soldier, author and adviser to Declassified UK. I also work for the armed forces monitor Forces Watch – of which more later.

It seems unbelievable to me that Declassified UK has entered its fourth year of operations! And the team started 2023 very strongly indeed. For me, alongside forensic investigations, one of DCUK’s strengths is its educational primers. Already in January we’ve read about the UK’s post-1945 interventions (83!) and coups (42!).

Phil Miller continued his ground-breaking work on the impacts of the British in Kenya. This is an issue which is very close to my heart. I spent time in Kenya in 2007 as part of a long training exercise and saw myself how swathes of bush were destroyed by fires set during live firing exercises.

It has become DCUK’s brand since launch to make space for these kinds of under-reported stories in great depth. I must also report that I spotted Phil’s excellent book Keenie Meenie in York Library this week – right next to SAS: Who Dares Wins star Ant Middleton’s turgid macho special forces memoir. Oh, how we laughed… 

Yemen, also sorely under- and misreported in the British press, featured prominently this month with pieces on an MI6-linked UK envoy and his shadowy military adviser. DCUK’s commitment to reporting the hidden narratives of this forgotten vicious war is testament to the team’s commitment to saying what much of the British press will not.

And Peter Oborne captured this issue in his clear-eyed piece on the state of journalism as state propaganda. His target in that piece was the ever-glistening Tony Blair, the figure whom Enzo Traverso once memorably branded “the artist of the lie”.

Not content with these powerful pieces, the team also found time to investigate Gavin Williamson and a massacre in Somaliland, to review a film on cricketer-turned politician -kPEvWlbajrk3LIXHo7lpPskHr5xRYBdO2p_YDAfdcvvdjKWyOThdcEAVI=&c=MalwDyOOmxUs-G7YJ81uRZH602Kt9UvXW7hgbKBUTWqXpgMHILW3tw==&ch=hR3KRH8Nrb3qmAi31tZ8lDcWfWbZuXi_y1gwo9TZAYoAArBzCVmo3Q==”>Venezuela’s gold still in the clutches of the Bank of England.

Not a bad haul for the dark days of January. I look forward to seeing what kind of revelations emerge on these pages in the coming months.

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Forces Watch

I work for Forces Watch, a small but potent NGO which monitors militarism and the military in the UK. Among our own recent highlights you will find a series of podcast interviews for our regular show Warrior Nation, featuring none other than Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme (AFPS) with its deep ties to the UK arms trade. Its lavish ‘graduation’ dinner, held at the Guards Museum in London, is where lobbyists, military officers and MPs chit-chat, quaff and quip while countries like Yemen shake under the impact of British bombs.

Make an Impact in 2023

Declassified UK has big plans to increase their outreach and impact for 2023. They want to counter the mainstream media’s narratives that the UK is a force for good in the world, and reveal the true nature of British foreign policy.

They cannot do this alone. Please join forces with Mark, Matt, Phil and Vicki in 2023 and make a regular small donation to the organisation. As little as £3 a month can help them push out their stories to new and global audiences.

Best wishes,

Joe.