Open Message to Members of Parliament
Request for Investigation into Alleged Abuse of Power and Intelligence-Service Conduct
Dear Member of Parliament,
I am writing to ask whether you would be prepared to raise questions concerning events that have affected my life for more than 25 years.
I have previously written to successive Prime Ministers about these matters. My principal concern is not with the United States or with any particular political party. My concern is whether British public authorities, including the security and intelligence services, have at any time acted improperly towards me and, if so, whether those actions have ever been independently examined.
I recognise that some of the conclusions I have reached are matters of belief rather than matters I can presently prove. I therefore ask not that you accept my interpretation of events, but that you consider whether the underlying allegations can be properly investigated.
My employment at ConvaTec
I worked for ConvaTec from 1989 until 2000. At that time ConvaTec was a division of Bristol-Myers Squibb.
During my employment I raised concerns about what I believed were health-and-safety shortcomings and other matters within the company. I also reported what I believed to be wrongdoing.
At one point I made a written comment about machinery in my department which included a reference to "blowing up" a machine. My comment was intended as an expression of frustration about the condition and suitability of the machinery. I did not intend it as a threat to commit an act of terrorism.
I subsequently became concerned that this comment, together with my criticism of the company and an email I sent to a senior Bristol-Myers Squibb executive questioning the reasons being given for a restructuring, had resulted in matters being reported to the authorities.
I have never been a terrorist and have never knowingly engaged in terrorism.
Nevertheless, I came to believe that my employment dispute had developed into something considerably more serious.
Alleged involvement of the security services
I believe that individuals connected with Bristol-Myers Squibb and/or ConvaTec may have had contact with British security authorities concerning me.
I further believe that information about my private life, family and medical history was obtained or used in circumstances which I have never understood.
Over a period of time I experienced a series of incidents which I interpreted as deliberate attempts to unsettle or intimidate me.
I cannot independently establish who was responsible for these incidents. I have nevertheless come to believe that MI5 was involved.
That is one of the principal matters on which I would like an independent determination.
Employment Tribunal
Following my departure from ConvaTec, I brought proceedings before an employment tribunal.
During the proceedings I became concerned that my case had been interfered with.
In particular, I received a telephone call on a number which I say I had not supplied to the tribunal. I reported this to my MP, Angela Eagle, who contacted the tribunal. I was subsequently informed that the number had been dialled randomly.
I lost my employment tribunal case.
I am not asking Parliament to overturn that judgment. I recognise that MPs cannot interfere with judicial decisions.
My concern is whether there was any improper activity surrounding the proceedings which has never been properly examined.
Events following my employment
During 2001 I undertook an IT course and subsequently obtained a work placement at West Kirby Grammar School for Girls.
At the time I believed that I was being monitored by the security services.
The fact that I was able to obtain and undertake this placement is, in my view, relevant because it raises an obvious question: if I had genuinely been regarded as a terrorist or national-security threat, why was I permitted to undertake such employment?
I accept, however, that this fact alone does not establish either that I was or was not of interest to the security services.
The Richard Reid incident
On 22 December 2001 I travelled to Barbados with my wife.
This was the same date on which Richard Reid attempted to detonate explosives concealed in his shoes aboard an aircraft travelling from Paris to the United States.
I have never accepted that the official account of the Reid incident explains everything that happened.
During my flight to Barbados I noticed a man whom I believed to be connected with the British intelligence services sitting close to my wife. During the flight I deliberately played with my shoes in an exaggerated manner and believed that this caused concern to the man.
I subsequently came to believe that this incident was connected in some way with the wider intelligence response to the Reid incident.
I acknowledge that this is my interpretation of events and that I do not presently possess evidence establishing such a connection.
I nevertheless believe the circumstances warrant examination if there is evidence that British intelligence agencies had an interest in me at that time.
Incidents following my return from Barbados
After returning to the United Kingdom I experienced further incidents which I interpreted as attempts to unsettle me.
One involved my Halifax bank branch in Liscard, Wallasey.
I had been a customer of the bank for many years. On returning from Barbados, two employees told me that I did not have an account with the bank and refused to deal with me.
I complained to the bank manager and subsequently to the Halifax complaints department. My complaint was rejected.
I subsequently became concerned that one of the employees involved had maintained contact with me and was attempting to obtain information about me on behalf of others.
Again, I recognise that this is my interpretation. I would like to know whether there is any evidence capable of establishing what actually occurred.
My gliding activities
I had been a glider pilot since the age of 15.
In October 2002, while visiting a gliding site at Feshiebridge in the Cairngorms, I found my glider partially vandalised, with oil and other items left in the cockpit.
No permanent damage was caused, but I regarded the incident as threatening.
During the same visit I had dinner with a group of glider pilots. One individual repeatedly asked whether he had previously met my wife and referred to whether she had been wearing a black leather suit.
The following day photographs appeared in newspapers of Cherie Blair wearing a black leather suit at the Labour Party Conference in Blackpool.
I do not claim that this coincidence proves any involvement by the security services. I include it because, in the context of the other events I was experiencing at the time, it contributed substantially to my belief that I was being deliberately targeted.
There were subsequently other incidents involving my gliding activities, including an incident while flying from Bidford Gliding Club which I believed could have had serious consequences.
Eventually I sold my glider and stopped flying.
The undertaking signed in October 2002
On 5 October 2002, following what I understood to be a threat of prosecution from ConvaTec, I signed an undertaking restricting what I could say about matters concerning my former employment.
I remain concerned about the circumstances in which that undertaking was obtained and whether information known to the company or other parties at that time had been obtained improperly.
My principal question
I appreciate that some of the events I have described occurred many years ago.
I also appreciate that some of my conclusions cannot presently be established simply from my personal recollection.
That is precisely why I am asking for an independent examination.
My principal question is:
Was I ever the subject of an MI5, MI6 or other intelligence-service investigation, surveillance operation, intelligence-gathering activity or other action, and if so, what was the lawful basis for it?
I would also like to know whether information concerning my employment dispute, family, medical history, private life, banking affairs or other personal circumstances was obtained or disseminated by or on behalf of an intelligence service.
If such activity occurred, I would like to know whether it was considered necessary and proportionate under the law applying at the time.
Why I am approaching Parliament
I understand that an MP cannot order MI5 to disclose classified information, overturn an employment tribunal judgment or determine whether my interpretation of these events is correct.
I am therefore not asking for any such intervention.
I am asking whether a Member of Parliament can help establish:
whether my allegations have previously been investigated by an appropriate independent body;
whether there is a proper route by which the allegations can now be examined;
whether the Investigatory Powers Tribunal is the appropriate forum for the matters I have raised;
whether relevant records concerning me still exist;
and whether any parliamentary or independent oversight mechanism is capable of examining the allegations.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal states that it can consider complaints concerning conduct by or on behalf of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, and that it can investigate alleged covert activity even where the complainant does not initially possess evidence proving that it occurred. It also states that complaints should set out what happened, where and when, together with supporting documentary evidence where available.
I am therefore particularly interested in whether my allegations should now be presented to that Tribunal.
I am not asking you to accept my conclusions
I want to make this point very clear.
I am not asking you to conclude that MI5 was responsible for the events I have described.
I am asking whether there is a mechanism capable of establishing the truth.
If the evidence shows that my interpretation of events was mistaken, I am prepared to accept that.
If, however, records or other evidence show that intelligence agencies were involved, I believe I am entitled to know whether that involvement was lawful and properly authorised.
MI5 itself states that its intelligence-gathering powers are subject to statutory controls and independent oversight, and that the Investigatory Powers Tribunal provides a route of redress for people who believe the intelligence services have acted improperly.
That is why I am asking for assistance in finding out whether my case can finally be examined on that basis.
I have lived with these unanswered questions for more than two decades.
I would be grateful if you would consider the matters set out above and, if appropriate, raise them with the relevant Minister, parliamentary oversight body or independent authority.
Yours sincerely,
James (Jim) Lynchehaun