Confidentiality Clauses

a member of my family used to serve in the armed forces. He was given an honourable discharge from the army, with a glowing testimonial from his commanding officer. He used to speak in public about his views on the war in Iraq, purely from the perspective of what it feels like going off to the enemy based on American Foreign Policy, on the treatment of prisoners, and the treatment of the local population.

He did not break the Official Secrets Act, but they prevented him from speaking in public on the basis that he was in breach of a confidentiality clause which was an attachment to his contract of employment, a document which he had to sign before he could be employed in the branch in which he served.

This clause was inserted because of some high profile books and films based on the experience of members of the Special Forces, which resulted in huge sums of money being paid to the authors. Now I think that the use of this confidentiality clause has been incorrectly applied, and I am not a happy bunny at all.