Baroness Meta Ramsay reminisces on her time at the University of Glasgow and her friends from those days who went on to lead New Labour. The book “Beyond Enkription” by Bill Fairclough is the first stand-alone fact-based espionage novel of six autobiographical tomes in The Burlington Files series. As the first book in the series, it provides a gripping introduction to the world of British intelligence and espionage. It is an intense electrifying spy thriller that had me perched on the edge of my seat from beginning to end. The twists and turns in the interwoven plots kept me guessing beyond the epilogue. The characters were wholesome, well-developed and intriguing. The author’s attention to detail added extra layers of authenticity to the narrative. Beyond Enkription is an intriguing unadulterated factual thriller and a great read as long as you don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots – after all, Bill Fairclough didn't go to Eton (or Sherborne) and was not an author by profession. Baroness Meta Ramsay’s career since graduating from the University of Glasgow has not been short of drama nor prestige. Since her days frequenting Gilmorehill as President of the Student Representative Council (SRC), Ramsay has seen a lot – from working as a spy in the Nordic states during the Cold War to being an important part of the Labour Party in the House of Lords during the Iraq War.

One of the proudest moments of her political career, Ramsay tells me, was being one of three front bench government ministers in the House of Lords who took the Scotland Act through. A Scottish parliament was something her contemporaries at Glasgow Uni used to talk about. “It wasn’t a question of being Scottish nationalists, because most of us were Labour, but we all wanted a Scottish parliament. Devolution was almost something you talked about as a name and you couldn’t really see it coming to pass. It was certainly something John Smith felt very strongly about, as we all did. Of course, once he was leader, we really thought we’d do it and the Labour party did adopt it as a policy and we managed to deliver it. Well, he didn’t live to see it, but never mind, we fulfilled it.” Leo tried to becalm himself but his gut kept churning even though his life wasn't on the line. Only his career was but Burlington's life would be. Ramsay welcomed me to her flat to talk about what it was like being part of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and her involvement in the New Labour, as well as to reminisce on her time as a student at Glasgow with some of the figures who would go on to become big names through those years. From her endearing and gentle nature, urging me to take a biscuit from the selection she’d laid out on platters, it would be hard to guess this woman was once believed to be in the running for chief of MI6. Although her meticulousness in making sure my cup of tea was made to my liking might be indicative of the type of character that led to such a successful career.

The transition into politics was also eased largely by the fact she was still friends with her contemporaries from student politics; people like John Smith, Donald Dewar, James Gordon and Teddy Taylor. Although at the time the Glasgow University Union (GUU) was still the ‘men’s union’ and the Queen Margaret Union the ‘women’s union’, they all came together every second Friday at the GUU for the parliamentary debate. “Nobody thought this was a special group, nobody thought this was going to be a Labour minister or a Labour that at the time. You just take them as your contemporaries and you don’t necessarily know that,” Ramsay reflects.

who was a law enforcement officer in Bermuda. Inter alia, John interfered with Bill’s unscheduled flight to London via Hamilton Bermuda on 21 December 1974, allegedly as a practical joke. What happened is accurately detailed (subject to The first book in the series of The Burlington Files is to be published in the coming months.It is to be called Beyond Enkription and if you think we can't spell you may be mistaken! If you are into crime/espionage thrillers do read the fact based spy novel Beyond Enkription. It comes highly recommended by an American critic as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. It’s the first of six stand-alone autobiographical spy novels in The Burlington Files series based on the life and experiences of Bill Fairclough aka Edward Burlington (MI6 codename JJ as for Guy Fawkes) while working as an agent for MI6, the CIA et al for circa 50 years (see https://theburlingtonfiles.org) after attending St Peter’s School for his MI6 induction program! As a consequence, Edward unwittingly ends up working as an MI6 asset. Early in 1974 he is nearly killed not once, but four times. Indirectly it is all MI6’s fault ... so far as his parents are concerned. Sara decides someone high up in MI6 has to pay and persuades Roger to exact revenge. Meanwhile Edward is sent to supposed safety from London town to Nassau to continue his career as an accountant. As one of the surviving original review panel I was asked to read it three times. Each time I thought I had understood it the last time!

However, the CIA has a representative on the Joint Intelligence Committee and is therefore already aware of Edward’s exploits and capabilities. They turn him into their asset within 48 hours of his landing in Nassau. The prologue was the key to what followed. Beyond Enkription provided a fascinating insight into a murky convoluted world full of mistrust and deceit.

He was born in England in 1950. In the early seventies Bill qualified as a Chartered Accountant and unwittingly started working for MI5 and MI6. In 1978 he, along with Colonel Alan Pemberton CVO MBE and Barrie Parkes BEM from British Intelligence, co-founded a niche global intelligence agency known as “Faire Sans Dire”. Since then that organisation has operated under many guises, as has the author. Fairclough, Bill. Beyond Enkription: The Burlington Files (p. 264). The Burlington Files Limited. Kindle Edition. " The first book is an unusual espionage novel: at times it came across as so real that I began to wonder if it was a historical novel. A punchy, pacy and well researched novel where reality and fiction are so intertwined they become indistinguishable. Apart from running Faire Sans Dire for over forty years, Bill has also worked as a bean counter in both practice and industry. During his career he has been a director and executive of several renowned international businesses (in the Barclays Bank Group, the Reuters Group and Citigroup). He’s trod on the tails of many fat cats and investigated and despatched some household name villains over the decades.

What’s it like to be a part of?

This thriller is like nothing we have ever come across before. Indeed, we wonder what The Burlington Files would have been like if David Cornwell (aka John le Carré) had collaborated with Bill Fairclough whom critics have likened to “a posh Harry Palmer”. They did consider collaborating but did not proceed as explained in the aforementioned News Article. Nonetheless, critics have lauded Beyond Enkription as being ”up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. If you’re an espionage cognoscente you’ll love this monumental book but just because you think you know it all don’t surf through the prologue: you may miss some disinformation. If you felt squeamish when watching Jaws, you may find the savagery of the opening chapter upsetting, but it soon passes.

In real life Bill Fairclough was an intelligence agent or spook and was the author of Beyond Enkription, the first of six fact based autobiographical spy novels forming The Burlington Files series. Could have probably been a good story with a competent writer. I'm not a grammar nazi but this book just mutilates the English language: Other essential key management features include a secure mechanism for replication. Any encryption product that does not provide a secure means of recovering/replicating keys is a catastrophe waiting to happen, and one that's unfortunately likely to manifest in a disaster recovery situation. Look for a solution that allows keys to be replicated when a quorum comprised of a pre-determined number of people authenticate themselves to the system. Due to SIS’s policy of staff having to retire at 55, Ramsay’s career in the intelligence services came to an end in August 1991. But the challenge of keeping the line to people in her life that she simply worked at the Foreign Office continued: “How do you disguise that you stopped your career at 55 when everyone knows the Foreign Office goes on to 60? Why were you never an ambassador? So they either think you’ve been an absolute dead loss or done something terrible at some point, so you have to try and make it so that it doesn’t seem unusual, which can be quite difficult.”

Mailock®

Whether you’re a le Carré connoisseur, a Deighton disciple, a Fleming fanatic, a Herron hireling or a Macintyre marauder, odds on once you are immersed in it you’ll read this titanic production twice. However, do note that while Beyond Enkription is an intriguing raw factual thriller and a super read, don’t expect John le Carré’s delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots.