Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
    • The Best of Reason Magazine
    • Why We Can't Have Nice Things
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Print Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Let's Hope This Never Comes Out

Jesse Walker | 2.7.2005 9:28 AM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

The United Kingdom has opened ten of its oldest state secrets to public scrutiny.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Public Space, Private Statue, Mixed Message

Jesse Walker is books editor at Reason and the author of Rebels on the Air and The United States of Paranoia.

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Hide Comments (25)

Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.

  1. dhex   20 years ago

    what, no unpaid parking tickets?

  2. Jason Ligon   20 years ago

    Don't get me wrong, I absoultely believe in transparent governments, but sometimes I wonder what would happen to all the conspiracy theorists and fighters against The Man if they were to find out how mundane sealed files really are.

  3. matthew hogan   20 years ago

    "Don't get me wrong, I absoultely believe in transparent governments, but sometimes I wonder what would happen to all the conspiracy theorists and fighters against The Man if they were to find out how mundane sealed files really are."

    This is so true, and that is maybe the worst aspect. Ordinary individuals suffer fundamental rights-deprivations in the name of the perception that some great national security/history is being protected and preserved. While the secrecy of these seem laughable today, individuals from parents to young adventurers to businesses sending telegrams had proper inquiry or debate over their situation suppressed for no sensible reason.

    That's probably the worse risk of government secrecy, not the fear that some great public issue or event is being concealed.

  4. thoreau   20 years ago

    Don't get me wrong, I absoultely believe in transparent governments, but sometimes I wonder what would happen to all the conspiracy theorists and fighters against The Man if they were to find out how mundane sealed files really are.

    Absolutely! When I read that 10 closely guarded secrets were to be revealed, I thought we'd find out about members of the royal family working for foreign governments or the identities of spies or a massacre in Ireland or whatever, or at least tests of military technology that was considered ahead of the curve back then.

    Instead we find out about inane shit?

    What's next? The British have some good food but it's being kept under seal for reasons of state security? Dental textbooks under lock and key?

  5. kwais   20 years ago

    Really!, where is the "who shot Elvis" stuff?

  6. thoreau   20 years ago

    As I think about it, this actually makes me trust the state even less! If they covered up matters of national security in the name of national security, well, then we'd at least know that they're honest, even if the secrecy gets excessive.

    But when they screw Joe Schmoewick (British for Joe Schmoe) and then use "national security" to cover their asses, well, it proves that they are completely corrupt and unreliable. If I can't trust them to handle a murder case or respect the rights of a protestor, how can I trust that they're really fighting terrorism with all that money they take from us?

  7. NoStar   20 years ago

    Britishese for Joe Smoe is more properly written as "Joseph Schmoewick Esq."

  8. kwais   20 years ago

    Thoreau,

    It is Nigel Schmoe for English dudes. For other Brits is can be Nigel or Joe McSchmoe.

  9. Ironchef   20 years ago

    This behavior reeks of arrogant gatekeeping by the British government.

    First, these were placed under restriction under the "Lord Chancellor's Instrument". Thank God & the Queen that the Lord Chancellor kept these from our (ignorant) eyes!

    Then, "following a review", presumably by some government Minister-of-BusyWork, by his good graces are we deemed able to view these files. Oh to be thankful.

  10. Shannon Love   20 years ago

    "As the USA are always so reluctant to part with any of our criminals, let them keep this one," he concluded."

    It is interesting to see the old form where "United States of America" is consider a plural instead of a singular. It good to remember that the Federal government is a creation of the states and not the other way around.

  11. Dynamist   20 years ago

    When the documents are unsealed, you'll learn that the British Schmoe is either Fred Bloggs or John Smith.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe

  12. s.m. koppelman   20 years ago

    I like the pre-Elian item about the four Italian kids the government refused to return to their parents in barbarous Italy. I suppose part of the rationale for doing so was the inherent cruelty of condeming children to a life of allegiance to the Pope and smelling of garlic.

    Also, is the Trial of Lunatics Act still on the books? I like the sound of it.

  13. nothing to see here, move alon   20 years ago

    How long before Gary shows up to make semantic arguments against Shannon Love's post?

    Gary, Shannon loves you, that's why she doesn't fight back. So reciprocate her love and be nice to her.

    And get a room, for G*d's sake!

  14. lyndon l.   20 years ago

    but don't you see? this is all part of an elaborate conspiracy, they just did this to make the people complacent, the queen is the biggest drug trafficker in the world...

  15. Todd Fletcher   20 years ago

    What a disappointment! I was all set to hear about brain-melting rays deployed in Sub-Saharan Africa. Jeez, what a bunch of nancy-boys.

  16. The Lonewacko Blog   20 years ago

    Other than the Queen's real name and her ties to the Lizard People, the Pope, the Illuminati, and the Commissioner of the United States Professional Baseball Leagues, the real big story not here is concerning Jack the Ripper. Was he a royal?

  17. joe   20 years ago

    #3: Margaret Thatcher's a MAN, baby!

  18. kwais   20 years ago

    Was Jack the ripper a royal, and why did they murder princess Di?

  19. Syd   20 years ago

    "There were concerns in 1906 over the question of extraditing an Italian alleged to have shot and killed a fellow Italian organ grinder on the Isle of Wight, in July 1901."

    Did they want him extradite him for performing a public service, or punish him for grinding an organ? And were there monkeys involved?

  20. joe   20 years ago

    WHY-WON'T-THIS-COME-OFF?!? WHY-WON'T-THIS-COME-OFF?

  21. Isaac Bartram   20 years ago

    "As the USA are always so reluctant to part with any of our criminals, let them keep this one," he concluded.

    Ah, yes, the USA, home to Europe's criminals and draft-dodgers.

    That's what made us great. 🙂

  22. joe   20 years ago

    Isaac, he was probably referring to IRA men.

    The old IRA.

  23. McClain   20 years ago

    Yeah, the whole "secret gov't documents" thing isn't as sexy as you'd think.
    Remember, it's some bored gov't drone who decides, at 3 PM on a rainy Tuesday, that he might as well use the "Top Secret for the Next Hundred Years" stamp on the next couple of files.
    After all, his supervisor's in a meeting, and won't know or care if TOO MUCH secrecy was invoked, just so long as all the files got filed away, and TOO LITTLE secrecy was NOT an issue.

  24. Night Poacher #10   20 years ago

    "..how mundane sealed files really are"

    You blokes spend 96 years in the clink, and see how mundane it is.. wankers..

  25. drf   20 years ago

    Nothing to see,

    I'll take this one. Go back to Philly and stay there this time. *chuckle*

    That plural-singular bit is particularly Britspeak. The team "are". The family "are".

    It's fun listening to the beeb and see how they get it confused.

    (Reference: B. Preisler "Handbook of English Grammar" 1997. pg 162, 163. ISBN: 87 7288 655 2)

    so both of you are plain old silly. 😉

    Did that capture the essence of a GG reply? Hope so. Back to our regularly scheduled programme.

Please log in to post comments

Mute this user?

  • Mute User
  • Cancel

Ban this user?

  • Ban User
  • Cancel

Un-ban this user?

  • Un-ban User
  • Cancel

Nuke this user?

  • Nuke User
  • Cancel

Un-nuke this user?

  • Un-nuke User
  • Cancel

Flag this comment?

  • Flag Comment
  • Cancel

Un-flag this comment?

  • Un-flag Comment
  • Cancel

Latest

Cancel Culture Monkeys and Military Industrial Menaces: James Gunn's Superman Is a Silly Delight

Peter Suderman | 7.11.2025 10:32 AM

The Kash Patel Loyalty Test

Liz Wolfe | 7.11.2025 9:31 AM

Blame California Politicians for the State's Sky-High Gasoline Prices

J.D. Tuccille | 7.11.2025 7:00 AM

Review: The Endless Summer Chases the Perfect Surf Conditions Around the Globe

Liz Wolfe | From the August/September 2025 issue

Brickbat: Shocking Mistake

Charles Oliver | 7.11.2025 4:00 AM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2024 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

r

Do you care about free minds and free markets? Sign up to get the biggest stories from Reason in your inbox every afternoon.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

This modal will close in 10

Reason Plus

Special Offer!

  • Full digital edition access
  • No ads
  • Commenting privileges

Just $25 per year

Join Today!