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CNB/14
them in September 1985 in support of the Attorney's case in Australia. The crucial evidence appears in paragraph 10 of Sir Robert Armstrong's affidavit sworn on the 9th of September 1985. That paragraph reads: [Reads]
"The publication of any narrative prepared or con-
tributed to by the 2nd Defendant that is Mr Wright] which is based upon information available to him as as a senior member of the British Security Service will be likely to cause unquantifiable damage by reason of the disclosures involved. Additionally, it would clearly damage the work. of the British Security
Service and thereby the national security of the United Kingdom in the following further respects:-
The intelligence and security services of friendly foreign countries with which the British Security Service is in liaison would be likely to lose confidence in its ability to protect classified information;
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(b)
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The British Security Service depends upon the confidence and cooperation of other organisations and persons. That confidence would suffer serious damage should the 2nd Defendant reveal information of the nature described above;
There would be a risk that other persons who are or have been employed in the British Security Service who have had access to similar information might seek to publish it."
Mr Ribeiro maintains that this is sufficient
for the purpose of this application and that, in any event, whether permanent restraint will serve any legitimate purpose is a matter
for trial,
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It is easy, I think, to see why Mr Justice Millett accepted Sir Robert Armstrong's evidence in 1986. That was before publication of "Spycatcher" in the United States of America and subsequently elsewhere. Equally, it is easy to see why at least in the English precedents the Attorney accepted, as did the Vice-Chancellor in the House of Lords, that the effect of paragraphs 10 (a) and (b) is really spent consequent upon the wide 32 publication of the information. The book is already, no doubt, 33 prescribed reading for the KGB and other foreign intelligencé 34 services. The harm has already been done.
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I find it difficult, therefore, to accept that
what Sir Robert Armstrong deposed to some two years ago for the
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