Dissident republicans claiming to be in possession of leaked PSNI information, chief constable says
Dissident republicans are claiming to be in possession of information about PSNI officers which was revealed in a data breach, the force’s chief constable has said.
Simon Byrne said he was “deeply sorry” for the “industrial scale breach of data that has gone into the public domain”, describing it as an “unprecedented crisis”.
The veteran officer briefed reporters after taking questions at a meeting of the Northern Ireland Policing Board.
An “early worst-case scenario that we have been dealing with is that third parties would attempt to get this data, to intimidate, corrupt, or indeed cause harm to our officers and staff”, Mr Byrne said
He added: “We are now aware that dissident republicans claim to be in possession of some of this information circulating on WhatsApp.
“As we speak, we are advising officers and staff about how to deal with that and any further risk that they may face.”
Asked to elaborate, Mr Byrne said his comment about dissident republicans was “a claim” and his force had not yet been able to verify it.
Nor has the PSNI seen any of the “information that dissident republicans assert that they have”.
Simon Byrne (left) with Assistant Chief Constable Chris Todd
It is being considered, however, whether some officers need to be moved from their usual places of work, and the breach “raises quite legitimate concerns for our workforce”, Mr Byrne said.
Others may have unusual surnames that could lead to early identification, he added, while certain officers have been advised to come off social media.
The force is working “flat out” to get answers to the “questions that are on everybody’s lips”, Mr Byrne said.
When asked about his position, he said there had been a “breach of trust” but leadership was not about “walking away”.
He added: “It’s facing up to your responsibilities and the organisation needs consistency and calm heads at the moment to lead us through what we accept is an unprecedented crisis.”
Asked if he thought he was the man to rebuild trust in the Police Service of Northern Ireland, he replied: “Yes, I do.”
Mr Byrne said that in future, “nothing else will be issued on a spread sheet” and a PDF will be used, making it more difficult to link to other formats.
It only takes one man with a gun
The Police Service of Northern Ireland is attempting to verify if its worst fears have become reality.
The fact that dissident Irish republicans claim to have accessed the personal data of 10,000 police officers and staff is a security nightmare.
On one hand, it is exactly what you would expect them to claim because they know it will strike fear into the hearts of police officers and their families.
Renegade republicans – still pursuing Irish unity by violent means – regard officers of the British Crown as “legitimate targets”.
In recent months, various breakaway factions have come together under the name of the New IRA.
Security sources estimate there to be fewer than 100 of them still actively engaged in violence but it only takes one man with a gun.
Earlier this year, MI5 raised the terror threat level in Northern Ireland back to severe, meaning attacks are highly likely.
When attacks are deemed highly likely and there’s a possibility they have your name, checking under your car for bombs is a very necessary precaution.
Earlier this week, the PSNI declared a “critical incident” after releasing information including the surnames, initials, ranks or grades, work locations and departments of all its staff as part of a Freedom of Information (FoI) request.
A second breach involved stolen documents and a laptop.
“We haven’t recovered the stolen property,” Mr Byrne said. “I know there is speculation about how and why it may have been stolen but we’re now in an investigation which is in its early stages, and we can’t confirm much else.”
Sinn Fein MLA Gerry Kelly, who sits on the Northern Ireland Policing Board, said the session with Mr Byrne had been “instructive and very robust”, adding: “There were many questions asked. We got answers to some of them.”
Me Kelly continued: “The issue around whether it is human error or a systems error was answered at the end. I think while human error was involved, there was also a problem with the system.
“I understand they changed part of the system which would resolve that problem at this moment.”
Speaking to Sky News earlier, senior DUP MP Sammy Wilson said Mr Byrne should think about whether remaining in his job was “sustainable”.
The last blast furnaces left operating in Britain could see their fate sealed within days, after their Chinese owners took the decision to cut off the crucial supply of ingredients keeping them running.
Jingye, the owner of British Steel in Scunthorpe, has, according to union representatives, cancelled future orders for the iron ore, coal and other raw materials needed to keep the furnaces running.
The upshot is that they may have to close next month – even sooner than the earliest date suggested for its closure.
Read more: Thousands of jobs at risk as British Steel consults unions over closure
The fate of the blast furnaces – the last two domestic sources of virgin steel, made from iron ore rather than recycled – is likely to be determined in a matter of days, with the Department for Business and Trade now actively pondering nationalisation.
The upshot is that even as Britain contends with a trade war across the Atlantic, it is now working against the clock to secure the future of steelmaking at Scunthorpe.
The talks between the government and Jingye broke down last week after the Chinese company, which bought British Steel out of receivership in 2020, rejected a £500m offer of public money to replace the existing furnaces with electric arc furnaces.
The sum is the same one it offered to Tata Steel, which has shut down the other remaining UK blast furnaces in Port Talbot and is planning to build electric furnaces – which have far lower carbon emissions.
These steel workers could soon be out of work
However, the owners argue that the amount is too little to justify extra investment at Scunthorpe, and said last week they were now consulting on the date of shutting both the blast furnaces and the attached steelworks.
Since British Steel is the main provider of steel rails to Network Rail – as well as other construction steels available from only a few sites in the world – the closure would leave the UK more reliant on imports for critical infrastructure sites.
However, since the site belongs to its Chinese owners, a decision to nationalise the site would involve radical steps government officials are wary of taking.
They also fear leaving taxpayers exposed to a potentially loss-making business for the long run.
The dilemma has been heightened by the sharp turn in geopolitical sentiment following Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
The incipient trade war and threatened cut in American support to Europe have sparked fresh calls for countries to act urgently to secure their own supplies of critical materials, especially those used for defence and infrastructure.
Read more:
Car manufacturers fined £461m for collusion
There were no winners from Trump’s tariff gameshow
Gareth Stace, head of UK Steel, the industry lobby group, said: “Talks seem to have broken down between government and British Steel.
“My advice to government is: please, Jonathan Reynolds, Business Secretary, get back round that negotiating table, thrash out a deal, and if a deal can’t be found in the next few days, then I fear for the very future of the sector, but also here for Scunthorpe steelworks.”
British Steel declined to comment.
UK
Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace branded ‘crude attempt to enrich himself’ as Chinese spy documents set to be released
Prince Andrew’s efforts to make money from his Pitch@Palace project have been branded as a “crude attempt to enrich himself” at the expense of “unsuspecting tech founders”, as new documents may shed more light on what he and his team have been attempting to sell.
Today is the deadline for documents to be released relating to Prince Andrew‘s former senior adviser Dominic Hampshire and his interactions with the alleged Chinese spy Yang Tengbo.
In February, an immigration tribunal heard how the intelligence services had contacted Mr Hampshire about Mr Yang back in 2022. Mr Yang helped set up Pitch@Palace China, a branch of the duke’s scheme to help young entrepreneurs.
The alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo, has links with Prince Andrew
Yang Tengbo. Pic: Pitch@Palace
Judges banned Mr Yang from the UK, saying his association with a senior royal had made Prince Andrew “vulnerable” and posed a threat to national security. Mr Yang challenged that decision at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC).
Since that hearing, media organisations have applied for certain documents relating to the case and Mr Hampshire’s support for Mr Yang to be made public. SIAC agreed to release some information of public interest. It is hoped they may include more details on deals that he was trying to do on behalf of Prince Andrew.
So what do we know about potential deals for Pitch@Palace so far?
In February, Sky News confirmed that palace officials had a meeting last summer with tech funding company StartupBootcamp to discuss a potential tie-up between them and Prince Andrew relating to his Pitch@Palace project.
The palace wasn’t involved in the fine details of a deal but wanted guarantees to make sure it wouldn’t impact the Royal Family in the future. Sky News understands from one source that the price being discussed for Pitch was around £750,000 – there are, however, reports that a deal may have stalled.
Photos we found on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce website show an event held in Asia between StartupBootcamp and Innovate Global, believed to be an offshoot of Pitch.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Who is alleged Chinese spy, Yang Tengbo?
Documents, released in relation to the investigations into Mr Tengbo, have also shown how much the duke has always seen Pitch as a way of potentially making money. One document from 21 August 2021 clearly states “the duke needed money at the time, and saw the relationships with China through Pitch as one possible source of funding”.
But Prince Andrew’s apparent intention to use Pitch to make money has led to concerns about whether he is unfairly using the contacts and information he gained when he was a working royal.
Norman Baker, former MP and author of books on royal finances, believes it is “a crude attempt to enrich himself” and goes against what the tech entrepreneurs thought they were signing up for.
Read more:
Who is Yang Tenbo?
Virginia Giuffre says she has days to live
Emails between Andrew and Epstein revealed
He told Sky News: “The data given by these business people was given on the basis it was an official operation and not something for Prince Andrew, and so in my view, Prince Andrew had no right legally or morally to take the data which has been collected, a huge amount of data, and sell it…
“And quite clearly if you’re going to sell it off to StartupBootcamp, that is not what people had in mind. The entrepreneurs who joined Pitch@Palace did not do so to enrich Prince Andrew,” he said.
Rich Wilson was one tech entrepreneur who was approached at the start of Pitch@Palace to sign up, but he stepped away when he spotted a clause in the contract saying they’d be entitled to 2% equity in any funding he secured.
He feels Prince Andrew is continuing to use those he made a show of supporting.
He said: “It makes me feel sick. I think it’s terrible – that he is continuing to exploit unsuspecting tech founders in this way. A lot of them, I’m quite grey and old in the tooth now, I saw it coming, but clearly most didn’t. And a lot of them were quite young.
“It’ll be their first venture and you’re learning on the trot, so to speak. So to take advantage of people in such a major way – that’s an awful, sickening thing to do.”
We approached StartupBootcamp who said they had no comment to make, and the Duke of York’s office did not respond.
With reports that a deal may have stalled, it could be a big setback for the duke – especially with questions still about how he’ll continue to pay for his home on the Windsor estate now that the King no longer gives him financial support.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports12 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway