Audio - 'Basiragate' an exclusive interview with David Shayler

"Whistleblower" David Shayler, the former MI5 officer who burst upon the public consciousness in August 1997 with articles in the Mail on Sunday about mismanagement and misdeeds at his former employers. Shayler "ratted" not out of ideology but apparently for personal reasons, and is an animal of the system he criticises.

David Shayler joined MI5 in Oct/1991 and worked there for five years. He started at F Branch (counter-subversion) in Jan/1992, and worked in T Branch (Irish terrorism) from August 1992 until October 1994.

By 1996 Shayler was becoming disillusioned with his employers and late that year he started meeting Mail on Sunday journo Fielding. On 24 August 1997, the first set of articles appeared in the Mail on Sunday and Shayler and his girlfriend Machon left for Holland just before the Mail published.

Differing reasons are put forward for why Shayler chose to go public with his claims. The Daily Mail said he resigned "after being refused a promotion and took his story to a newspaper". But Shayler denies this. There is no dispute however that the newspaper paid Shayler at least £39,000 for his disclosures.

The Mail on Sunday intended to publish more allegations but an injunction "gagged" them.

RampART radio found Shayler near speakers corner in Hyde Park plugging his new book during the Stop The War Coallition's 'Peace and Liberty ' march. Surrounded by various stalls claiming a wide variety of speculative theories about the events of 9/11, 7/7 and 21/7, we took the opportunity to ask Shayler about the two undercover 'SAS' soldiers caught 'red handed' in Basira and what possible explainations there might be for their actions.

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