UK government’s continuing refusal to name Stakeknife ‘deeply insulting’ to victims

By Rebecca Black, Press Association

The UK government’s continuing refusal to name the former Army agent known as Stakeknife is “deeply insulting” to victims, a solicitor representing several affected families has said.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee (NIAC) on Monday joined calls for the UK government to formally name Stakeknife, widely believed to be west Belfast man Freddie Scappaticci, who was 77 when he died in 2023.

Operation Kenova, a probe which examined the activities of Stakeknife, a mole operating within the Provisional IRA’s Internal Security Unit in the 1980s linked to at least 14 murders and 15 abductions, concluded that more lives were probably lost than saved through the operation of the agent.

However, it was unable to confirm Stakeknife’s identity in its final report in December after the UK government refused its authorisation to do so.

Successive governments have refused to do so, citing the long-standing policy of neither confirm nor deny (NCND).

Then, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the UK government was considering its position on naming Stakeknife following a Supreme Court judgment related to the disclosure of intelligence information in the case of the murder of Paul Thompson.

Kenova chief Iain Livingstone, and PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who previously led the investigation, have urged the UK government to name Stakeknife.

Responding on Monday, a UK government spokesperson said it is “not yet in a position to formally respond to the request by Operation Kenova to name Stakeknife as there remains ongoing litigation, and consideration of the recent judgment in the Thompson Supreme Court case”.

They added that Benn has “committed to updating Parliament on the matter as soon as he is able to”.

Belfast solicitor Kevin Winters of KRW Law said  Benn is becoming “increasingly isolated”.

“With both the committee and the chief constable of the PSNI now openly supporting the need for naming, continued government reliance on the Neither Confirm Nor Deny policy is untenable,” he said.

“For the families we represent — survivors of torture, interrogations and murders attributed to the IRA’s Internal Security Unit — continued suppression of Scappaticci’s identity is deeply insulting.

“He is dead; there are no residual human rights protections to hide behind. Naming him would not open the floodgates to disclosing the identities of other agents, living or deceased, but it would provide a long-overdue measure of truth for victims.”

Winters urged Benn to “do the right thing”.

“This has dragged on far too long. Kenova families are, frankly, fed up to the back teeth with delay,” he said.

“MI5 cannot be allowed to dictate the limits of truth recovery. The Secretary of State must take a stand. All sections of the community want the truth acknowledged.

“The committee’s position today represents vindication for families who have campaigned for transparency for decades.

“Politically, today’s NIAC position is seismic. Legally, it could influence ongoing litigation, including the case of the family of Anthony McKiernan, murdered in 1988.

“Morally, the government’s refusal to name Scappaticci, after spending £40 million on Kenova, risks undermining the positive elements of the entire process.

“To refuse naming now would compound the insult to families and erode public confidence even further.”