Who is This?

David Leigh is a British journalist, author and editor. He has been one of Britain's leading investigative journalists since the 1970s, and with his 1988 book The Wilson Plot he did much to increase public interest in alleged attempts by the British security services and others to destabilise Harold Wilson's government in the 1970s. His 1995 TV documentary for World in Action, "Jonathan of Arabia", led after a celebrated libel trial to the jailing for perjury of former Conservative arms sales minister Jonathan Aitken. His most recent campaign led to his naming of Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia as the recipient of £1bn payments from arms company BAE to cement a UK-Saudi arms deal. All involved deny wrongdoing, but BAE's arms sales are now under criminal inquiry by the US department of justice and other international prosecutors. Currently Leigh is assistant editor of The Guardian.

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Ex-MI5 agent in memoirs battle sues newspaper for naming him

A former MI5 secret agent is suing the London Evening Standard for revealing his name, his lawyers say, in an attempt to extend Britain's privacy laws to cover the identity of intelligence officers. The agent is also threatening the Guardian with a ...

From DAVID LEIGH, RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR, Guardian Unlimited,  17 Nov 2009

Related Topics: MI5,  Evening Standard,  Alexander Lebedev,  Al-Qaeda,  Binyam Mohamed

PCC's Peta Buscombe should resign, says lawyer

A lawyer who gave evidence to the parliamentary committee investigating press behaviour, today called on Peta Buscombe, the chair of the Press Complaints Commission, to resign. He claimed she had published what were termed "extremely serious" false ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  16 Nov 2009

Related Topics: Peta Buscombe,  House of Commons,  John Whittingdale,  Rupert Murdoch,  David Cameron

US medical firm takes trip to UK courts to sue consultant

The justice secretary, Jack Straw, has invited Peter Wilmshurst, a leading British doctor, to the Ministry of Justice tomorrow to describe his experience as a victim of what he believes is libel tourism. Wilmshurst is a consultant cardiologist at ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  10 Nov 2009

Related Topics: Jack Straw,  Ministry of Justice,  NMT Medical Inc.

Corruption fears over Ivory Coast toxic waste victims' £30m Trafigura payout

A pot of £30m compensation due to be paid to thousands of African victims of toxic waste may end up being stolen thanks to the Ivory Coast regime's corruption, their lawyers said today. The money was handed over by oil traders Trafigura in an ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  4 Nov 2009

Britain accused of 'genocide denial' over Armenia

Britain was accused of "genocide denial" today after the disclosure of Foreign Office documents revealing the government's refusal to recognise the so-called Armenian massacre of 1915, in which up to a million people died. The documents, dating back ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  3 Nov 2009

Related Topics: Geoffrey Robertson,  Orhan Pamuk

BAE fraud dossier passed to SFO barrister

The attorney general, Baroness Scotland, has yet to approve any prosecution of BAE. Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) passed the dossier to Tim Langdale QC, its outside legal expert, this morning. He is expected to give his ...

From ROB EVANS, DAVID LEIGH, The Observer,  30 Oct 2009

Carter-Ruck give up bid to keep Trafigura study secret

Lawyers for oil traders Trafigura finally abandoned attempts to keep secret a scientific report about toxic waste dumping in west Africa, that was shown to the Guardian. Just after 7.30pm Carter-Ruck, libel lawyers for Trafigura, wrote a letter to the ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  16 Oct 2009

Related Topics: John Minton,  United Nations,  Lance Corporal Paul Farrelly,  Peter Bottomley,  Alan Rusbridger

PM calls for reform of super-injunctions

Gordon Brown today stepped into the row over the use of super-injunctions that ban reporting of a story and also the existence of the ban, telling MPs the legal tactic was "an unfortunate area of the law". At prime minister's questions Brown said he ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  14 Oct 2009

Related Topics: Gordon Brown,  Jack Straw,  Peter Bottomley,  Lance Corporal Paul Farrelly,  Liberal Democrats

Trafigura drops gag bid over MP's question

Carter-Ruck, the law firm representing Trafigura, was accused of infringing the supremacy of parliament. Photograph: EPA An unprecedented attempt by a British oil trading firm to prevent the Guardian reporting parliamentary proceedings collapsedtoday ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  13 Oct 2009

Related Topics: Environmental Protection Agency,  Lance Corporal Paul Farrelly,  Twitter Inc,  John Bercow,  Jack Straw

Trafigura gag attempt unites Commons in protest

John Bercow addresses the House of Commons after becoming Speaker in June. Photograph: PA Wire/PA MPs from all parties protested at Westminster this afternoon at attempts by lawyers acting for the oil trader Trafigura to stop reports of parliamentary ...

From DAVID LEIGH, Guardian Unlimited,  13 Oct 2009

Related Topics: John Bercow,  House of Commons,  Lance Corporal Paul Farrelly,  Evan Harris,  David Heath

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