Former RAF, Royal Navy and Army pilots training foreign militaries may be prosecuted for sharing military tactics, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Former UK Armed Forces personnel who train foreign militaries around the world can be prosecuted under new offences within the National Security Act.
“It comes after the Ministry of Defence issued a security alert last year, revealing that a number of former Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and Army pilots had been training the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force, having being contracted through a private South African company and attracted by high salaries.
Specifically, the new Act includes the section 1 offence of ‘obtaining or disclosing protected information’ and defines ‘information’ to include tactics, techniques and procedures. This means that pilots risk being prosecuted for sharing such sensitive information with foreign powers. Once the powers come into force, the Ministry of Defence can pass relevant information to police forces, who can investigate offences under the Act.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:
“Anyone found to be acting against the UK’s interests by training our competitors’ militaries can now expect to be pursued and brought to justice.
The government has acted decisively following the identification of this threat, and has made rapid changes to legislation to help shut it down.”
This comes on the back of the PLAAF actively seeking out ex RAF and USAF pilots and then approaching then with huge offers of money to complete a training contract with the PLAAF. The Chinese are particularly keen to hear about RAF and USAF tactics, weapons and countering those tactics and known weapon systems/ sensor fusions.
There were reports of dozens of ex RAF pilots and officers having been paid huge sums of money to complete 18 month- 3 year contracts training the PLAAF.
Those individuals must have known they were likely breaching the official secrets act and working against their nations national interest.
I’m all for prosecuting those that behave in this manner.
General rule of business: if you are offered a crazy amount of money to do something there is generally something wrong with the offer!
Doesn’t the official secrets act,to which All service personnel signed, past and present, cover the countries sovereign rights.OR is this another loophole 🧐🤐😗
The National Security Act 2023, which has now come into force, has repealed the old Official Secrets Act 1911. So having signed that Act no longer has any effect.
Old T, that has just boiled my head. Ffs💩
Signing it has little effect in the first instance. It’s just a formal acknowledgment that ‘you’re going to be told secrets. If you tell people, this is the law you’re breaking’.
It’s kind of like me making you sign something that says ‘stealing from a shop is illegal. You’ve been warned’ if you stole before, you were still breaking the law.
Repealing the old act simply means anything that would have been an offence under the act, won’t be prosecuted. If the same actions are now an offence punishable by a new law (ie sharing information considered ‘secret’ with a foreign government), that’s what you’ll be punished with instead.
They will never do as much damage to this country as Grant Schapps and his ilk have.
What did he do?
Does this include the Saudis?
What of the ‘Slush’ funds that BAE has in Saudi? That seems to have slipped people’s Attention, to get the contract as with Al Yummama deal with Thatcher!
So the Goverment has just changed the rules. Great,, long overdue, close the loopholes.
But you cannot apply a law retrospectively, so legally, HMG would have no chance of prosecuting any of those who have taken the Chinese shilling prior to the date of the new law.
Government should have acted far sooner, damage is done, should have closed the stable door two-three years
ago when this was known.
Can be Charged under the old Official secrets act, as a Terrorist
Quite rightly too. It should’ve been blatantly obvious the threat the likes of the PRC has posed quite actively for decades. Basic anti-spy-entrapment & official secrets act should have made that obvious. If you then go on to help our enemies you should expect no less. But recent reports demonstrate the inability of our politicians to show basic precautions themselves.
No sure David Cameron did UK security too many favours with his ridiculous defence cuts, will he be prosecuted?
Charge and prosecute, seize all financial gains and assets, remove there pensions and there wings and deport them and there families to Rwanda. and remove there Citizenship ship. TREAT AS A TERRIOIST see the smile drain from there face