Catalogue Number
NMLH.2020.5.237
Object Name
Badge
Title
I Am A Security Risk!
Events
ABC Trial
Date
1978
Description
Round red badge, "I Am A Security Risk!" in yellow. The background has smaller font repeating "Official Secrets Act" in white. The badge was produced during the ABC Trial (R v Aubrey, Berry and Campbell), in which three men - two libertarian journalists and a resigned GCHQ source - were tried for officences under the Official Secrets Act 1911. The defendants had tried to heighten scrutiny of government-authorised wire-tapping and to limit the work of American spies in Britain. The case was seen as an embarrassment to the British state, and resulted in a new Official Secrets Act 1989. Future governments have since generally refrained from prosecuting journalists.
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