Exclusive: Interview with Former Mi5 Spymaster Annie Machon

Note: apologies for the Skype quality which skips and jumps here and there, and which I could not help. We’ll just pretend it’s cryptographic and we’re “agents” (not spies!) and de-code certain sections where Skype “jumps.”

Ms. Annie Machon was gracious enough to grant me an interview to discuss her own story, the infamous David Shayler affair, corruption and whistleblowing in British Intelligence, the modern terror state, and much more. Her 2005 book, Spies, Lies and Whistelbowers: MI5, MI6 and the Shayler Affair is a fascinating read, and can be tracked down, if you’re sleuth enough.

Her bio at her site reads:

Annie Machon is a former intelligence officer for MI5, the UK Security Service, who resigned in 1996 to blow the whistle on the spies’ incompetence and crimes with her ex-partner, David Shayler.

Drawing on her varied experiences, she is now a media pundit, author, journalist, international tour and event organiser, political campaigner, and PR consultant.

She has a rare perspective both on the inner workings of governments, intelligence agencies and the media, as well as the wider implications for the need for increased openness and accountability in both public and private sectors.

She is also a recognised international public speaker on a variety of issues: security and intelligence, ethics and citizenship, the war on terror, press and media freedoms, secrecy legislation, civil liberties, totalitarianism and police states, accountability in government and business as well as discussing her personal story of being ‘on the run’.

Annie can also provide relatively pain-free and fun training in public speaking and media skills,

Annie read Classics at Cambridge University and then began a career in publishing. In 1991 she was recruited by MI5 where she was posted to their political and counter-terrorism departments.

Machon, A. (2005).
Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5 and the David Shayler Affair. Book Guild Ltd. ISBN-10: 185776952X

http://www.anniemachon.com/