Ex-MI5 chief book 'to be published'

Dame Stella has been asked by MPs not to publish

The former director-general of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, is to be allowed to publish her memoirs of her time in office, it has been reported.

Her book, A Life of Surprises, has been submitted for vetting in accordance with the rule that former MI5 officers must obtain permission before publishing anything learned during their service.

The heads of the security and intelligence services - MI5, MI6 and GCHQ - are resigned to the book's publication despite viewing it as a "moral betrayal", according to The Daily Telegraph.

An official ministerial statement of disapproval is likely to accompany the book's authorisation, in order to discourage others from writing similar accounts in future, the newspaper says.

Advance report

It had been feared that the book's publication could encourage other staff to follow Dame Stella's lead, even though any details that could compromise national security will be censored or removed.

Dame Stella, the first female head of the secret service and the first to be officially named and photographed, has described her book as a "personal" memoir.

The 65-year-old, who headed the service from 1992 to 1996, said her book would not reveal any information of a sensitive nature or posing a threat to national security.

David Shayler is facing trial over his revelations about MI5

She is reported to have been offered a £500,000 advance for the book by publishers Random House.

Her decision to publish caused concern in parliament, coming at the same time as the return of ex-agent David Shayler to face trial on charges of breaking the Official Secrets Act.

In June Foreign Secretary Robin Cook urged the former head of MI5 to rethink her decision.

In September a 338-page manuscript believed to be her book was delivered to Downing Street by The Sun newspaper, which said it had received the manuscript anonymously.

The newspaper said it declined to publish excerpts from the document in the interests of national security.

Since Peter Wright's book Spycatcher was published in 1987, a growing number of former secret service and security personnel have written accounts of their experiences.

A New Zealand court recently upheld the right of former SAS soldier Mike Coburn to publish a book about his role in the ill-fated Gulf War operation Bravo Two Zero.