He is the anonymous translator whose life changed the day he agreed to work for an unpopular regime. Now Gordon Brown has promised him help in a change of heart from a government who had previously refused to give asylum to translators in Iraq persecuted for helping the British forces in Basra.

Speaking anonymously and with his face hidden to protect his identity, Mr. M said, ‘I’m happy to have the support of the Prime Minister. Life has been unbearable since I took the job on Saturday. I was promised that it would be an easy job, over in a day, and that nobody would know my real identity. Now my life has changed. I can’t go home. I can’t even travel in my car without people pointing at me and calling me a quisling.’

Mr. M. faces almost daily intimidation and threats from people who once called him a friend but now cannot understand why he was willing to risk it all to act as mouthpiece for the Brown administration. Mr. M. is defiant. ‘If I don’t interpret for him, who will?’ he asks. ‘Does the country really want to be run by a man who nobody can understand?’

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