Richard Norton-Taylor

{{Infobox person

| name = Richard Norton-Taylor

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| birth_name = Richard Seymour Norton-Taylor

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1944|6|4|df=yes}}

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| education = Hertford College, Oxford

| occupation = Editor, journalist and playwright

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| spouse = Anna C. Rendle (m. 1967)

| children = Hugo Norton-Taylor, Sam Norton-Taylor

| relatives = 5 grandchildren

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Richard Seymour Norton-Taylor (born 6 June 1944){{cite news |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |title=I was a D-day baby, but at least I wasn't called Dwight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/jun/02/i-was-a-d-day-baby-at-least-i-wasnt-called-dwight |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 June 2019 |access-date=8 April 2023}} is a British editor, journalist, and playwright. He wrote for The Guardian on defence and security matters from 1975 to 2016, and was the newspaper's security editor. He now works for the investigative journalism site Declassified UK.{{cite web |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |title=How British journalists are seduced by the Ministry of Defence and spooks |url=https://declassifieduk.org/how-british-journalists-are-seduced-by-the-ministry-of-defence-and-spooks/ |website=Declassified UK |date=28 September 2021 |access-date=8 April 2023}}

Early life and education

He was born to Lt. Seymour Norton-Taylor, R.A., and Gweneth Joan Powell (died 9 January 1978).

Norton-Taylor was educated at The King's School in Canterbury, Kent, going on to study at Hertford College, a constituent college of the University of Oxford, and the College of Europe in Bruges.

Career

He was the European Community and Brussels correspondent for both The Washington Post and Newsweek between 1967 and 1975, while also contributing to The Economist and the Financial Times.

Norton-Taylor joined The Guardian in 1975, concentrating on Whitehall, official secrecy, and behind-the-scenes decision-making. He became an expert on British and Soviet intelligence activities during the Second World War. In 1988, he made an extended appearance on the TV discussion programme After Dark, alongside (among others) Harold Musgrove, Hilary Wainwright and George Brumwell, discussing his book Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting, co-written with Mark Hollingsworth.

He has written several plays based on transcripts of public inquiries, including The Colour of Justice (1999), based on the hearing of the MacPherson Inquiry into the police conduct of the investigation into the murder of Stephen Lawrence.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/jan/17/race.world|title=Here is racism in all of its subtle shades|first=Susannah|last=Clapp|author-link = Susannah Clapp|newspaper=The Observer|date=17 January 1999|access-date = 7 April 2023}} Another was Justifying War: Scenes from the Hutton Inquiry (2003), both of which premiered at the Tricycle Theatre.

Norton-Taylor left The Guardian in July 2016{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/jul/17/brussels-spies-paradise-europe |last=Norton-Taylor |first=Richard |title='Brussels was paradise for journalists ... and full of spies' |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 July 2016 |access-date=7 April 2023 |page=31}} and currently writes for Declassified UK.{{Cite web|url=https://declassifieduk.org/author/richard-norton-taylor/|title=RICHARD NORTON-TAYLOR, Author at Declassified UK|website=Declassified UK}}

Awards

In 1986 Norton-Taylor won the Freedom of Information Campaign award. That same year he was prevented initially by a court injunction from reporting the contents of Spycatcher (1987), the memoirs of Peter Wright, a former MI5 agent. The government's injunction was dismissed in the High Court by Lord Justice Scott.

Norton-Taylor was one of the few journalists to cover the Scott Inquiry from start to finish. His play, Half the Picture, based on the inquiry, received a 1994 Time Out Drama, Comedy and Dance award for its "brave initiative".

In 2010, with fellow Guardian journalist Ian Cobain, he was awarded a Human Rights Campaign of the Year Award from Liberty for their "investigation into Britain's complicity in the use of torture" by the United States against detainees at their facility at Guantanamo Bay and at black sites.Liberty, [https://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/previous-award-winners List of previous winners]

Personal life

In 1967, he married Anna C Rendle.{{cite news|title=Forthcoming marriages|work=The Times|date=16 June 1967|page=12}} He has two children and five grandchildren. His son Hugo is a judge of the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber).{{cite web |last1=Freedland |first1=Jacob |title=Gaza immigration judge's father is ex-Guardian journalist who campaigns against Israel online |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/02/12/gaza-immigration-judge-father-accused-israel-genocide/ |website=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=21 February 2025 |date=12 February 2025}} {{subscription required}}

Norton-Taylor is a Member of Council of the Royal United Services Institute and a trustee of the Civil Liberties Trust and the London Action Trust.

References

External links

[https://twitter.com/NortonTaylor Richard Norton-Taylor on Twitter]
[http://browse.guardian.co.uk/search?search=richard+norton-taylor&N=4294962404 Richard Norton-Taylor's articles], Guardian Unlimited website
{{IMDb name|1532553}}
[http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsN/norton-taylor-richard.html Richard Norton-Taylor at doollee.com, the playwright's database]

Category:1944 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of Hertford College, Oxford

Category:British investigative journalists

Category:College of Europe alumni

Category:English dramatists and playwrights

Category:English male dramatists and playwrights

Category:English male journalists

Category:English newspaper editors

Category:English political writers

Category:English reporters and correspondents

Category:Financial Times people