LONDON (AP) — The British government said Thursday it will keep the country’s spies on a tighter rein after a report found MI5 misled courts about its ties to a neo-Nazi informer accused of attacking his partner.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she is taking “urgent action” to strengthen oversight of the U.K.’s domestic security service after a tribunal found it repeatedly gave “a false account” of what had happened.
MI5 apologized and paid compensation earlier this year to settle a legal claim brought by a woman over her treatment by an allegedly abusive ex-partner. The man was an MI5 informant, identified in court as Agent X.
MI5 maintained in sworn testimony that it had neither confirmed nor denied that Agent X was an agency informant spying on extreme-right groups. But in fact an MI5 officer had disclosed the information during a conversation with a BBC journalist who was investigating Agent X.
The Investigatory Powers Tribunal, which investigates allegations against Britain’s intelligence services, said MI5 had misled three courts because a false narrative was “allowed to take hold and persist.” It said “systemic failures” meant chances to correct the error were missed,
“The findings of this report are stark. It details serious failings by individual MI5 officers, resulting in false evidence being provided to the courts, and criticism of MI5 as an organization,” Mahmood said.
“MI5 plays a critical role in keeping our country safe and we owe a debt of thanks to its staff. They have made significant progress over the last year in learning from these failures, but there is more to do to ensure the highest standards of integrity and accountability are upheld.”
MI5 Director-General Ken McCallum said the agency “recognizes without hesitation the seriousness of our failings” and was working “to ensure we never find ourselves in this position again.”
“The people of MI5 work day and night to keep this country safe. We get much right. In this instance we fell well short of what the public expect and deserve,” he said.
Agent X's former partner, who was identified in legal proceedings only as Beth, said male violence against women “is always unacceptable, and all the more so when it is actually enabled by those in positions of power.”
She added: “What today’s report suggests to me once again is that institutions like MI5 always protect their own.”
In a separate case last year, a report found that MI5 protected a top spy planted within the Irish Republican Army when they knew he was wanted by police for murder, and continued to suppress the truth about the agent decades after Northern Ireland ’s bloody conflict.
FILE - Director General of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum delivers the annual Director General's Speech at Thames House, the headquarters of the UK's Security Service in London, Oct. 16, 2025. (Jonathan Brady/Pool Photo via AP, File)
UVALDE, Texas (AP) — Rescuers plucked stranded drivers and people trapped in homes from catastrophic flooding in Texas while many more fled to higher ground Thursday across a region still recovering from devastating floods just a year ago. Gov. Greg Abbott said at least one person has died in the floods.
After days of pounding rain, the National Weather Service in San Antonio said a “large and deadly flood wave” was barreling down the same river wrecked by flash floods last summer when two dozen children and counselors were killed at Camp Mystic.
Forecasters urgently warned “Move to higher ground now!” as rivers rose hour by hour, turning them into fast-moving seas of white water. Several tornado warnings were also issued.
The Texas Hill Country floods over the July Fourth holiday last year killed more than 100 people.
Abbott said there has been “one loss of life” due to the floods but he did not specify where or when.
As of Wednesday, more than 1,300 personnel were “actively engaged and responding” to the crisis and they have rescued “well over 70 people already,” Abbott said during a news conference Thursday morning.
“Our number one focus is saving lives,” Abbott said.
Residents were shaken by the latest disaster.
“It’s crazy happening two times in one year,” said Josiah Rodriguez, who woke to the sound of heavy rain around 2 a.m. Thursday in Kerrville. He navigated flooded roads to help evacuate relatives.
“Last year there was no warning of it,” he said. “It just kind of happened overnight and it took everyone by surprise. This year, a lot more alerts have gone into place, a lot more safety measures.”
Residents said they were caught off guard a year ago and didn’t receive any warning when floods overtopped the Guadalupe River. Some local leaders were criticized for not acting quickly.
The storms and flooding this time threatened multiple counties close to the border with Mexico and in the Texas Hill Country near San Antonio. City officials in Kerrville urged people to shelter at the highest levels of their homes.
Images along a creek in Kerr County showed propane tanks that had been pushed onto a bridge and a mess of tangled trees.
Floodwaters overran the city of Uvalde overnight, cutting off outside access. The Leona River, normally dry most of the year, filled streets with water.
“People really can’t get anywhere” said Carmen Rodriguez, who was nervously watching water engulf her neighborhood Thursday morning as a helicopter roared overhead. “We have a place to go, but all the streets are closed.”
Phones buzzed with warnings throughout the night warning of flash floods in the morning. Rodriguez said it seemed that authorities were well prepared. By Wednesday, Uvalde police had ordered some mandatory evacuations, with first responders notifying people directly.
Uvalde officials sent out rescue boats and found multiple people trapped in vehicles overnight, said Juli Alvarado, a spokesperson for Uvalde police.
“There’s no way into the city at this point,” she said.
Texas Game Wardens rescued more than 40 people and evacuated about a dozen others, mostly in the Uvalde County area, according to a Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesperson.
The floodwaters were expected to reach a crest similar to last year's flood, the weather service said.
Gauges in some spots along the Guadalupe River showed it rose by more than 30 feet (9 meters) in just hours overnight. One gauge outside Kerrville showed the river had risen 32 feet (9.7 meters) in four hours.
Close to Camp Mystic, which remains shut, the Guadalupe River near Hunt reached about 20.5 feet (6.3 meters), according to a U.S. Geological Survey gauge, which is just under the level expected to inundate structures and roads.
Volunteer firefighters spent the night helping people evacuate their homes and answering calls about rising water in Ingram, just up river from Hunt, where summer camps dot the shores of the Guadalupe, Ingram Mayor Claud Jordan said Thursday morning.
While the water didn’t rise as high as a year ago, he believes this round of flooding was more widespread and “worse” in his city. “The rural part of Ingram, all the roads are just trashed,” he said.
“There are a bunch of businesses that haven’t reopened from last year. They’re still trying to rebuild from the July 4 floods,” Jordan said. “This doesn’t help.”
Residents at an RV park in Comfort, Texas, near the Guadalupe River moved their trailers as local fire department sirens sounded, manager Duke Earwood said Thursday.
Water rose over the hoods of vehicles parked closest to the river.
While the water started to recede, another surge was expected, Earwood said at the Comfort RV Resort, which has about 200 residents. “People need to know to just kind of stay put for now,” he said.
Markers showed the flooding already matched the level from the big flood last July.
“Too familiar for sure, and too soon,” Earwood said.
The Texas Hill Country is especially prone to flash floods because the area’s signature limestone is covered by just a thin layer of soil. During heavy rains, water can quickly shoot downhill before quickly filling the narrow river basins.
The weather service said 10 to 20 inches of rain (25 to 50 centimeters) had fallen in the past two days, with 8 inches (20 centimeters) in just two hours early Thursday.
The deluge dumped nearly a foot of rain in some counties and put people in multiple counties under flood watches, with some were expected to remain in effect through Friday evening.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued disaster declarations for dozens of counties. As of late Wednesday, six million residents in 57 counties were under a National Weather Service flood watch.
Stengle reported from Dallas. Associated Press writers Christopher L. Keller in Albuquerque, New Mexico; Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut; Michael Phillis in Washington; Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
Mike Erulenfeld and Kala Martin walks back to his truck after watching as the Pedernales River floods near Old Kerr Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)
The Pedernales River floods along State Highway 16 on Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)
Mike Erulenfeld and Kala Martin watch as the Pedernales River floods near Old Kerr Highway on Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)
The Pedernales River floods underneath State Highway 87 on Thursday, July 16, 2026, in Fredericksburg, Texas. (AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez)
A small fish is stranded on a sidewalk after flood waters subsided on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Boerne, Texas. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Reece Noble, left, and Gavyn Steffek, photograph a tortoise they found in flood waters on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Boerne, Texas. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Members of the Boerne Fire Dept. rescue a woman from flood waters on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Boerne, Texas. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
A flood-damaged car hangs from a fence on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Boerne, Texas. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Members of the Boerne Fire Dept. prepare to perform a water rescue on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, in Boerne, Texas. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
