Economical with the Truth Trivia Quiz

Answer: MI5

In Britain there are various intelligence services. These include the Security Service, which provides domestic counter-intelligence and security services within the United Kingdom. It is better known as MI5, which stands for Military Intelligence, Section 5.

The KGB used to be the Soviet Union's main security agency. Mossad is an Israeli intelligence service, and the CIA stands for Central Intelligence Agency and is American.

Answer: Peter Wright

Peter Wright wrote the book after his retirement from MI5 and whilst living in Tasmania. The book was co-authored by Paul Greengrass, a film director, screenwriter and former journalist. Greengrass was director of the second and third films in the 'Bourne' franchise.

Of the others, Kim Philby and Anthony Blunt were part of the Cambridge Five spy ring, the name given to a group of Soviet moles within British intelligence. Wright asserted in "Spycatcher" that Roger Hollis, one time Director General of MI5, was also as a Soviet mole.

Answer: Scientific research skills

Wright started intelligence work when given the job of Navy Scientist attached to the Marconi Company. Once he actually joined MI5, he specialised for a time in bugging interception services.

The photograph shows the Great Seal of the United States, a carved wooden replica of which was given to the US Ambassador in Moscow in 1945 by a Soviet youth organisation. It contained a covert listening device, which was discovered by accident several years later. The CIA sought help from the Marconi Company and it was Wright who worked out how it worked. It was nicknamed 'The Thing'.

Answer: To replace lost pension funds

Wright added an afterword to the book to explain why he wrote "Spycatcher". He worked at one time for GCHQ, a British intelligence agency specialising in signals intelligence, before transferring to MI5. The refusal of his employers to transfer his GCHQ pension had a significant impact on his pension on retirement and the book was written to try and recoup this loss.

Answer: A breach of the Official Secrets Act

The main reason for the case was the UK Government wished to prevent the disclosure of certain information contained in the book. In other words they wished to suppress publication. A High Court order in England prevented the sale of the book in England but not in Scotland since Scotland is in a different legal jurisdiction. Various English newspapers attempted to publish the main revelations of the book and were served with gag orders. Scottish papers were unaffected by the gag orders so could report freely.

The photograph depicts the Scales of Justice normally held by Lady Justice. It is intended to symbolise a balancing of the pros and cons of the case. Lady Justice, who holds the scales, can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian goddess Maat who personified truth and morality amongst other concepts.

Answer: NSW, Australia

Wright had written his book whilst living in Tasmania and planned to publish his book through Heinemann Publishers Australia Pty Ltd. This meant that court action was best raised in Australia, where both defending parties were based. The initial court papers were lodged during 1985 in New South Wales.

You may have noticed that the coat of arms in the photo shows a kangaroo and an emu, both native to Australia. It is unlikely that this was the actual courtroom where the trial took place.

Answer: Margaret Thatcher

The Thatcher Government worked quite hard to suppress reportage of the book in England. In 1987 a High Court overturned the newspaper ban only for the House of Lords (the highest court in Britain) to overrule that decision. The European Court of Human Rights then ruled that the British Government's gag order was in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The photograph shows Number Ten Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister.

Answer: Chief witness for the British government

Sir Robert Armstrong was the Cabinet Secretary at the time. As such he was the most senior civil servant in the UK. One of his jobs was to oversee the intelligence services and their relationship to the government. The cross-examination at the trial is said to have gone like this:

Lawyer: What is the difference between a misleading impression and a lie?
Armstrong: A lie is a straight untruth.
Lawyer: What is a misleading impression - a sort of bent untruth?
Armstrong: As one person said, it is perhaps being "economical with the truth".

The person Armstrong referred to was Edmund Burke who wrote about it in 1796. The quote from the trial and the definition of the euphemism given in the photograph came from phrases.org.uk.

Answer: He was made a life peer

Armstrong was a key civil servant and very competent. He was placed in a very difficult spot by the trial as, for example, he was not in a position to confirm nor deny the existence of MI5. This resulted in some exchanges reminiscent of the TV programmes "Yes, Minister" and "Monty Python". It is unlikely however that his peerage in the House of Lords had anything to do with the trial.

The photograph is of the House of Lords, the upper house of the UK Parliament, where the peers are based.

Answer: He died a millionaire in 1995

Although Wright probably won no friends in the British Government, he did not come to a sticky end. He lived out his last few years in Tasmania with worsening health and died aged 78 years. The trial turned the book into an international best seller, made him a millionaire (so providing the pension top-up he sought) and caused great embarrassment to the British Government of the time.

The trial itself generated a book called 'The Spycatcher Trial' by Malcolm Turnbull, the lawyer who represented Peter Wright and the Australian publisher at the trial. Turnbull later became an Australian politician and was leader of the Liberal Party from 2008 to 2009.