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| You are staring at: Home > News | 20th March |
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 Blair: Bugging UN "essential" for safety of Britain26 Feb 2004
Tony Blair today told journalists that it was "absolutely essential" for the security of Britain that spies bugged United Nations officials and foreign diplomats. His statement came after the former Cabinet minister Clare Short told the BBC that Britain had bugged the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in the run up to the war in Iraq. "This is a dangerous time for this country and the world," he said. "Just because these people are our allies, it doesn't mean it's unnecessary for us to bug them."
"We always abide by the totality of domestic and international law wherever possible, and that's exactly what we've done in this situation," he added. "I stand by the work of our intelligence services." Earlier, a spokesman for the UN had said that any bugging of its officials would be illegal. Pressed on the matter, Mr Blair went on to say that some members of the UN were "dangerous", as had been shown by Iraq. "These people invade sovereign countries – start wars, which cost thousands of lives and devastate nations – at their whim," he said. "They are very dangerous, and we have to know what they are doing." When asked to confirm if he meant the United States, he declined to comment on "specific cases". Answering a hard-hitting question from a Sun journalist asking whether Ms Short was a "useless, blundering spastic", Mr Blair attacked his former colleague for what she had said. "It's a pity she has said what she has said today, as she is quite obviously mentally unstable," he said. "Clare has put the lives of our security officers at risk and she should think very carefully about her actions." "Now that people at the UN know what we have been doing – if indeed we have been doing what she says we have been doing, and I can neither confirm nor deny that, or talk about specific cases, no prime minister ever has and I'm not about to start doing that, and in any case I... sorry, where was I? Oh yes. Dangerous actions. She should be ashamed of herself. And get some help. Next question." Mr Blair finished his press conference by refusing to confirm that because of Ms Short's comments British security officers could be in danger of "friendly fire" from their American counterparts. Related Articles GCHQ translator unpunished for Iraq leak 26 Feb 2004 Bush nominated for Nobel Peace Prize, plus other Iraq award nominations 13 Feb 2004 Sceptics demand inquiry into Hutton Inquiry 5 Feb 2004 Liberal Democrats to disrupt inquiry into Iraq's WMD 4 Feb 2004 Downing Street drafts clarifications of Blair's statements on Iraq 3 Feb 2004 Government counterattack: Troops occupy Broadcasting House 3 Feb 2004
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