Latest news with #BritishNationalArchives
The Journal
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Journal
Tony Blair delighted to keep guitar gifted by Bono, but less keen on one from Mexico's president
FORMER BRITISH PRIME minister Tony Blair was delighted to keep a guitar presented to him by Bono – but when it came to a similar gift from the president of Mexico, not so much. Official files released to the British National Archives show Blair was keen to take advantage of rules on ministerial gifts to buy the instrument given to him by the U2 singer and Live Aid campaigner once he left office. He did, however, question whether he would have to pay 'the full purchase price'. Advertisement Downing Street officials suggested that Blair, who fronted a rock band called Ugly Rumours in his student days, might want to take the same approach when it came to a white Fender Stratocaster, valued at £2,500 (€2,880), from the Canadian singer Bryan Adams. However, Blair was much less enthusiastic about an acoustic Vargas guitar presented to him by President Vicente Fox during an official visit to Mexico in 2001, noting: 'I don't actually use it.' The files also show that Blair rejected advice that he should not keep a Pro Braided tennis racket given to him by the manufacturer, Slazenger. Officials feared that it was part of a 'marketing ploy' by the company and suggested it should be donated to a children's charity as 'you cannot be seen to endorse any product'. Blair, however, instructed them just to thank the company, adding: 'It is very churlish to refuse to use it.'
Fox News
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Rare criminal confessions, British spy secrets from 115 years ago unveiled in new exhibit
The British National Archives has announced a new exhibit that may catch the attention of James Bond fans. The "MI5: Official Secrets" exhibit will be pulling down the curtain on the world of espionage in London. "Explore the ever-changing world of espionage and security threats through original case files, photographs and papers, alongside the real equipment used by spies and spy-catchers over MI5's 115-year history," reads the exhibit's website. Ken McCallum, director general of MI5, the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, said at an event celebrating the exhibit's launch that the agency wants to be more transparent, Reuters reported. He added that espionage work is about "ordinary human beings together doing extraordinary things." Among the many items, there will be a piece of evidence against German spy Karl Muller. A 110-year-old lemon was used against Muller to prove he used the juice of the lemon to write secret messages during World War One, according to Reuters. He was executed in 1915 at the Tower of London. Also on display will be confessions and surveillance reports relating to the "Cambridge Five," a group of British intelligence officials. The group was known as some of Britain's most notorious double agents, spying for the Soviet Union between the 1930s and 1950s. The exhibit is in partnership with the Security Service and will open on April 5.
