By Sean Rayment
(Filed: 10/03/2002)


SENIOR Government officials are under pressure to discipline two Ministry of Defence civil servants who voiced their opposition to the war in Afghanistan in the MoD's in-house journal.

Chris Gale and Roger White, who are said to be involved in sensitive nuclear work in Bath, wrote a letter to Focus headlined "We don't back the war".

They said that they did not support the British-backed American response to the September 11 attacks and the "desire of the United States to widen the war".

Sir Kevin Tebbit, the department's permanent secretary, is now under strong pressure from Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, to take disciplinary action against them.

Their letter, which dismayed colleagues, said: "The United States and its backers have ignored the procedures for dealing with threats to peace laid down in the UN Charter and Nato.

"They talk of the 'international community' but this is a smokescreen to disguise the fact that this is not a UN war. Many of us from various backgrounds believe this is not a just war."

Bernard Jenkin, the shadow defence secretary, also called on the MoD to act. He said: "Anybody dealing with secret or sensitive information who is also dissaffected must be a high security risk."

An MoD spokesman said they supported the right for civil servants to exercise their freedom of speech in the magazine.