Government offers to meet woman abused by neo-Nazi MI5 agent

The government will arrange a meeting with a woman who was coercively controlled by a violent MI5 agent, the deputy prime minister has said.

On Tuesday, the BBC revealed a secret inquiry by MI5’s watchdog had concluded the service knew an abusive agent it defended in court was a misogynist who was “obsessed” with violence.

The inquiry took place after BBC News originally exposed how MI5 had covered up for the man – a neo-Nazi informant known publicly as agent X.

David Lammy, who was pressed on MI5’s defence of the agent at Prime Minister’s Questions, described it as a “very serious issue” and said he would set up a meeting between the woman, known as Beth, and the security minister.

Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats, said: “MI5 has defended in court an agent that they knew to be openly misogynistic, obsessed with violence, and who used his position to coercively control his girlfriend Beth and attack her with a machete. To add insult to injury, MI5 also gave false evidence to the court.

“Will the deputy prime minister use this opportunity to offer Beth a full apology on behalf of the government?”

Lammy, who stood in for Sir Keir Starmer while the prime minister attends Nato, replied: “She raises a very serious issue, of course, and I will arrange for Beth to meet the security minister to discuss this in detail.”

The BBC has approached the Home Office to ask if a meeting will now be arranged.

The previous government took the BBC to court in 2022 in a failed attempt to block our original investigation, but it won the man legal anonymity.

That year, the BBC first reported how the MI5 spy had used his status to coercively control his girlfriend, including attacking her with a machete, before moving abroad to continue intelligence work while he was still under investigation.

In court, the government tried to undermine Beth and cast doubt on the BBC’s case.

However, in a statement this week the government for the first time accepted she was abused by agent X, describing it as “abhorrent” and extended “sincere sympathies to her.”

MI5 gave false evidence during the court case, and two linked cases, leading to the prime minister to order an inquiry into how it happened.

The Investigatory Powers Commissioner Sir Brian Leveson, whose office has led the inquiry, said in an update on Wednesday that he has completed the transfer of the report to the courts and prime minister.

“It is now for the Prime Minister to make the report public,” he said.