London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 09, 2025

BBC to be taken to court to stop it from reporting on spy story

BBC to be taken to court to stop it from reporting on spy story

Attorney general is seeking an injunction gagging broadcaster, with hearing set for March
The government will take the BBC to court in March in an attempt to prevent it from publishing or broadcasting a proposed news report.

Oliver Sanders QC, representing the attorney general, Suella Braverman, told the high court on Wednesday that the case involved matters of national security and breach of confidence.

The Telegraph reported on Friday that the BBC was planning to reveal the identity of a spy working overseas, prompting comparisons with the Spycatcher saga.

It is a rare example of breach of confidence claim being brought by the government against a media organisation. In 1987, the Thatcher government gagged newspapers in England from reporting on Peter Wright’s claims against MI5, contained in his autobiography, Spycatcher, which had been published in Australia.

Given the sensitivity of the current case, Sanders requested that Wednesday’s hearing be held in private, telling the court: “In our submissions, the difficulty of proceeding in open court … is it makes it almost impossible to discuss the issue, in terms of what the case is about.”

The BBC’s lawyer, Adam Wolanski, opposed the application for the hearing to be held in private, describing it as “a departure from the open justice principle”. Mr Justice Chamberlain ruled that it would be held partially in private but only for discussions surrounding the Telegraph story. As a result the press and public were excluded from the hearing for more than an hour.

However, Chamberlain said he was committed to the case being heard in public where possible, saying: “The principle is not to derogate from open justice unless it is strictly necessary and compellingly justified.

He added: “The interim relief hearing will take place on 1 and 2 March. It will take place in public until – and to the extent – there’s an order made that any part of the hearing should not be in public.”

The judge also directed that a redacted version of the injunction application and claim form, which were previously sealed, can be made public on Thursday.

Before the hearing, a spokesperson for the BBC said: “The attorney general has issued proceedings against the BBC with a view to obtaining an injunction to prevent publication of a proposed BBC news story. We are unable to comment further at this stage, beyond confirming that we would not pursue any story unless it was felt it was overwhelmingly in the public interest to do so and fully in line with the BBC’s editorial standards and values.”

A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office said: “The attorney-general has made an application against the BBC. It would be inappropriate to comment further while proceedings are ongoing.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
×