Margaret 'Meta' Ramsay

Once tipped as a future head of the MI6, Baroness Margaret 'Meta' Ramsay of Cartvale, of Langside in the City of Glasgow, is a former MI6 operative and advisor to the late Labour leader John Smith. She is a past chair of the Atlantic Council of the United Kingdom (1997 and 2001) and a non-executive director at Nirex. 

Stephen Dorril's history of MI6 states that Ramsay was secretary of the International Student Conference (ISC), which allegedly acted as a CIA front. Its offshoot, the Fund for International Student Co-operation (FISC), "shared an office" with the Overseas Students Trust, which also seems to have had intelligence connections and worked within the National Union of Students (NUS).

Scottish Labour connections
Ramsay, following a career of over twenty years in HM Diplomatic Service in MI6, where she was a Scandanavia specialist, was Foreign Policy Advisor for John Smith from 1992 until his death. She was part of a Glasgow University 60s clique which included Smith, Donald Dewar, Derry Irvine the Lord Chancellor, Menzies Campbell, Angus Grossart the merchant banker, Jean McFadden the ex-leader of Glasgow City Council and Lord Gordon, founder of Radio Clyde who holidayed with Ramsay and Dewar shortly before he had his heart attack. --Sunday Times, August 15, 1999.

Affiliations
An Honorary Visiting Fellow in the University of Bradford's Department of Peace Studies, a lifelong member of the Labour Party and the Fabian Society, she is also an executive member of the Labour Finance and Industry Group which connected Demos to those representing Big Business and right-wing think tanks. Ramsay is also involved with the Labour Movement for Europe and the women's equality lobbies Emily's List - which she helped to found - and the 300 Group. Ramsay is also a fromer paid consultant to Control Risks Group, which has strong British intelligence links. 

Ramsay has also been involved with the Institute for Jewish Policy Research and the Zionist Labour Friends of Israel. She was a 'member of a parliamentary delegation to Israel and the Occupied Territories (30 October - 3 November 2004) under the auspices of the Labour Friends of Israel. Travel expenses and accommodation were met by the Labour Friends of Israel'. 

Other Affiliations
 * Member, University of Glasgow Dialectic Society.
 * Trustee of The Smith Institute.
 * A Commander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland, "one of the country's highest honours." May 2002.

Intelligence links
Tim Luckhurst wrote in the June 15, 2003, Sunday Times:


 * Dorril says that politicians including Dewar, John Smith, Gordon Brown, George Foulkes, George Robertson and Robin Cook were precisely the types the intelligence services longed to see take control of the Labour party and he believes that contemporaries and acquaintances of these leading Scottish Labour figures took active roles in organisations sponsored and endorsed by MI6 and the CIA.


 * "Elizabeth Smith (John Smith's widow) was approached. So was Margaret "Meta" Ramsay, president of the Scottish National Union of Students between 1959 and 1961, who worked at the Fund for International Student Co-operation (FISC) where the organiser was George Foulkes. "In 1969 the Radical Student Alliance published a pamphlet alleging that FISC was a CIA front," says Dorril. "That was denied, but in 1969 Ramsay joined MI6. She was a specialist in the Scandinavian states."

Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC)
With her place on the Intelligence and Security Committee, Ramsay is also closely involved in Parliamentary oversight of SIS [Secret Intelligence Service], GCHQ [Government Communications Headquarters] and the Security Service. Established in 1994, the Committee "operates within the 'ring of secrecy' and has wide access to the range of Agency activities and to highly classified information". 


 * The Intelligence and Security Committee (July 2005) is comprised of:
 * Rt Hon Paul Murphy MP (chair)
 * Rt Hon Michael Ancram QC DL MP
 * Rt Hon Alan Beith MP
 * Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale
 * Ben Chapman MP
 * Rt Hon George Howarth MP
 * Rt Hon Michael Mates MP
 * Richard Ottaway MP
 * Dari Taylor MP

Foreign Policy Centre
Ramsay's involvement with the Foreign Policy Centre is an indication of an, if not out-sourced, certainly reciprical relationship to some of the Foreign Office and MI6's activities, overseen by Ramsay:


 * Public Diplomacy: Mark Leonard and Vidhya Alakeson’s study Going Public: Diplomacy for the Information Society outlined techniques which governments could use to influence public opinion in other countries. It has had a tangible influence: the Foreign Office launched a public diplomacy department shortly after the report was launched, and its influence could be seen in the British Council’s five-year plan. The Swedish Foreign Ministry declared it "the most ambitious study of the future of diplomacy".

The Foreign Policy Centre's 'partner's' with intelligence and/or government connections have included:


 * Accenture — the re-branded consultants Authur Anderson.


 * AON — Headquartered in Chicago, AON is a risk management and insurance group engaged in counter-terrorism. It is ranked as one of the top 250 U.S.-based companies on the Fortune 500 list,  The company recently pulled out of Burma; AON featured on the ‘Dirty List’ of companies directly or indirectly funding the regime in Burma.


 * Armor Group — An international defensive protective security company, specialising in 'Protective Security Services and Security Training. It provides security services to first world national governments, international inter-governmental organizations and multinational corporations.
 * Directors include Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Jerry Hoffman (served in field and staff roles for the US Air Force (Intelligence) and the Central Intelligence Agency in the US, Europe, Middle East and Asia), Noel Philp (Formerly an officer in both the British and New Zealand armies serving primarily in the SAS), David Seato (Previously he had worked for 11 years with Schlumberger Oilfield Services). Christopher Beese (has a military background including service with the British Army and Sultan of Oman's forces, seconded to the UK Foreign Office in Bosnia in 1993 and was awarded an MBE for services in the Balkans —the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom awarded Armor's subsidiary, Defense Systems Limited (DSL), an expanded contract for mine clearance operations in Kosovo), Simon Havers (ex-BBC World Service Television), John Biles (Chubb Security plc. also Amey plc), Iain Paterson (14 years with BP before joining Enterprise Oil plc, ITE Group plc and Sondex plc and a non-executive director of Paladin Resources plc, Hunting plc).


 * Armor Group security experience includes: oil and gas facilities and pipeline projects in Russia, Ecuador, Colombia and Kazakhstan; humanitarian operations in Africa and the Balkans; embassy installation security in the Middle East, Far East and Africa. The group also claims to have "provided secure communications for the new banking sector in Iraq."  As part of a team headed by Bechtel National Inc., Armor Group has been awarded a prime $10 billion contract by the US Air Force.  Armor Holdings Products manufactures and sells a broad range of high quality branded law enforcement equipment. Such products include ballistic resistant vests and tactical armor, less-than-lethal munitions, anti-riot products and narcotic identification kits.


 * The Barrow Cadbury Trust — Claims to 'build bridges between policy makers and grassroots activity' and works closely with the FPC in India, Africa and Latin America. Barrow Cadbury supported (£35,000) the European Civic Citizenship and Inclusion Index launched by The Foreign Policy Centre in partnership with the British Council and the Migration Policy Group.


 * Its Director, Sukhvinder Stubbs, is a Trustee of Demos and a member of the Better Regulation Task Force quango. Phoebe Griffith is the Senior Development Manager at the Barrow Cadbury Trust and managed the Foreign Policy Centre's programme on International Development and acted as an advisor to the FCO Global Opportunity Fund's Emerging Markets programme.


 * Anna Southall the administrator is also a member The Big Lottery Fund: the name used to refer to the Community Fund and the New Opportunities Fund (NOF) who are working closely together pending legislation to create a new Lottery distributor. The NOF was the government helping itself to Lottery money to fund various government PR initiatives.  She was given a medal by NATO's Lord Robertson (awarded by the Carnegie Corporation). She also directs Futurebuilders — a £125 million investment fund backed by the Home Office Active Community Unit. It was set up to help develop the capacity of the voluntary and community sector to deliver public services.  She is also a member of the Spoliation Advisory Panel.  Barrow Cadbury also sponsors Demos ("Rethinking Inclusive Communities") and uses Fishburn Hedges as PR.


 * BBC
 * Body Shop
 * BP International
 * British Council
 * Clifford Chance
 * Commonwealth Institute
 * Control Risks Group — The FPC have a cosy relationship with CRG is basically a recycling of their material after it has been commented upon by Baroness Ramsay and Paul Wilkinson.
 * Diageo
 * Employability Forum
 * European Commission
 * European Parliament in the UK
 * Friedrich Ebert Stiftung
 * Friends Provident
 * GlaxoSmithKline
 * Global Legacy
 * Hiscox
 * HSBC
 * JMC
 * John Moore’s University
 * KPMG
 * Marsh
 * NCVO
 * RSPB
 * Rubicon
 * SCR
 * Shell International
 * Six Continents
 * Stone Ashdown Charitable Trust
 * Tesco
 * World Service
 * The Webb Memorial Trust
 * Weber Shandwick Adamson
 * The Wellcome Trust

The FPC advisory committee is:


 * Sir Michael Butler — formerly the British Permanent, Representative to the European Community, and was the originator of the Hard Ecu plan and chairman of the City's European Committee. He is currently chairman of ICL Pathway and ICL's European Strategy Board
 * Fred Halliday — Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics. He is best-known for his work on Great Power relations, International Relations in the Middle East and on the causes and impact of International Revolutions.
 * Baroness Helena Kennedy — is a leading criminal lawyer as well as the Chair of the British Council and Chancellor of Oxford Brookes university. She is Chair of the London International Festival of Theatre, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and President of the National Children's Bureau.
 * Lord Levy — has spent thirty years at the forefront of commerce. He has built up several successful companies, beginning with the worldwide record and music publishing group of companies, MAGNET, sold to Warner Bros. in 1988. In addition, he has taken a lead in public and community affairs nationally and globally. He is currently a member of the International Board of Governors of the Peres Center for Peace; a member of the FCO Panel 2000 and a member of the World Commission on Israel Diaspora relations. He is also Chairman of the Foundation for Education; Patron of the British Music Industry Awards and President of Community Service Volunteers and Jewish Care.
 * Adam Lury — is a Founding Partner of HHCL + Partners, the international advertising agency, renowned for its innovative and award-winning campaigns for blue chip clients including the AA, BA, BP, Bacardi-Martini and Fuji Film. Adam was born in Tripoli and grew up in East Africa. His influential work as Group Planning Director for Boase Massimi Pollitt saw him take 'Planning' to Japan, the Middle East, Far East and West Africa. He also founded the agency's econometrics unit. He is author with Simon Gibson of "Dangerous Data" and "Blood Data" and the Foreign Policy Centre novella "Need to Know", which explores how Governments should respond to health-scares in a febrile political culture.
 * Lord Paul — is Chairman of Caparo Group, the U.K. based industrial company which he founded in 1968. He was President of the UK Steel Association in 1994 and 1995 and was raised to the Peerage as Baron Paul of Marylebone in October 1996. Lord Paul is a member of the DTI Indo-British Partnership, advising on steel, mining and investment interests and is Ambassador for British Business.

Related Publications

 * Stephen Dorril, "MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service", Free Press (1st edition), 2000, Hardback ISBN 0743203798; 2002, Paperback ISBN 0743217780.

Profiles

 * Photograph at University of Bradford, November 12, 2002.
 * Burke's Peerage & Gentry: Scotland's Prominent Individuals: Scottish Life Peers (electronicscotland.com): "RAMSAY, Meta, THE BARONESS RAMSAY OF CARTVALE, Biography : Meta RAMSAY of Langside in the City of Glasgow; Life Peer, cr 1996; educ Hutchesons' Girls' GS, Glasgow; Glasgow U (MA, ...".
 * Press Release: "Baroness Ramsay - Scotland Office spokesperson in the House of Lords," Scotland Office, July 29, 1999.
 * Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale and Meta Ramsay in the Wikipedia.
 * Advisory Council Profile: Baroness Ramsay, Foreign Policy Centre.

Articles & Commentary

 * Charles Fenyvesi, "Washington Whispers," U.S. News & World Report (KeepMedia), November 25, 1991.
 * Robert Shrimsley, "'Demon eyes' Saatchi and Gummer's brother made life peers," Telegraph (UK), August 21, 1996: "Also honoured is Meta Ramsay, a former diplomat and adviser to John Smith, the late Labour leader."
 * News Release: "Prime Minister Attends Launch of New Foreign Policy Centre," PR Newswire (UK), March 3, 1998.
 * "The UK Government after the Reshuffle," EBN, 1999.
 * Mark Hollingsworth, Book Review: "MI6: Fifty Years of Special Operations" by Stephen Dorril, Guardian (UK), April 8, 2000.
 * Baroness Meta Ramsay, "Dry wit and a taste for mischief," The Sunday Herald (UK) (FindArticles), October 15, 2000.
 * Isabel Oakeshott, "Treasured Memories; Exclusive: As the Nation Mourns the Loss of First (Donald Dewar)," Sunday Mirror (UK) (FindArticles), October 15, 2000: "University pals Baroness Meta Ramsay, 64, Lord Gordon of Strathblane, 64, and his wife Anne had a tough time persuading their friend to leave his desk for the week."
 * "New Labour as the triumph of Cold War liberalism: the case of John Smith," University of Utah, Department of Economics (A-List Message), August 2002. Scroll down to "So, 'Lady' Smith's appointment ... "
 * Mark Hollingsworth, "Spies like us: New Labour's obsession with the intelligence services has been a disaster for the government and MI6," Guardian (UK), November 5, 2003.
 * Tim Luckhurst, "Spies Come in from the Clyde", Sunday Times, June 15, 2003.
 * Mark Hollingsworth, "Spies like us. New Labour's obsession with the intelligence services has been a disaster for the government and MI6," Guardian (UK), November 5, 2003.
 * Directory: "Delegations to interparliamentary assemblies: NATO Parliamentary Assembly. Members," Parliament, February 11, 2005.
 * "Ex-N. Ireland chief joins intell body," UPI (Washington Times), July 14, 2005. re Intelligence and Security Committee: "Former MI6, or British international intelligence officer and Labour peer Baroness Ramsay of Cartvale also rejoined the committee after an eight year break, ..."
 * Peter Riddell, "How the row over detention for 90 days made us all extremists," Times Online (UK), November 24, 2005.
 * "New look for Nirex Board," Nirex, November 25, 2005; Nirex UK Board of Directors, July 2005.
 * "Detention without trial: The Anachronisms Strike Back," A Mischief of Magpies, January 13, 2006.