Daily View: MI6 chief's first public speech
Commentators consider the to the Society of Editors, the first ever given by a serving chief of MI6.
that human rights campaigners are destroying MI6’s secrecy, a point of view :
“British intelligence officers are regularly required to work in some of the world’s most challenging regions, where the rule of law and respect for human rights do not always take top priority. But that does not mean, as the anti-war brigade would have us believe, that British intelligence routinely turns a blind eye when terrorist suspects are tortured in countries that are supposed to be our allies. On the contrary, Sir John insists that, if his officers fear a suspect is being tortured, they must abandon the operation, even if ‘that allows the terrorist activity to go ahead’.
“That assurance, though, is unlikely to have much impact on the relentless campaign by human rights lobbyists to force MI6 to divulge secret information simply to prove that its officers do not indulge in torture. The publication of a classified CIA document relating to the case of former Guantánamo detainee Binyam Mohamed has already caused a serious rift with the Americans, who feel we can no longer be trusted to keep a secret. Sir Mansfield will be spinning in his grave.”
he sees the speech as part of a trend of the “celebrity spy” unnecessarily getting involved in politics:
“We are a democracy, not a state like the former Soviet Union where the secret police extended their control over every aspect of citizens’ lives.
"In emerging from the shadows MI5 and MI6 have got above their stations. MI6 used to be housed in an anonymous office at the southern end of Waterloo station. Now it has a grandiose HQ overlooking the Thames at Vauxhall. Coming into official existence has created opportunities for its top brass to build celebrity careers and express political views but of course it hasn’t helped you or me find out any more about what it really gets up to.”
In contrast, the [subscription required] Sir John's decision to speak in public, saying that secrecy needs to be tempered with accountability:
“To guarantee the integrity of the security services, the people at the head must be public figures, so that scrutiny happens, the public understand it and the security services thereby feel the impetus to hold themselves to account. This should be true of MI6, and also of MI5 and GCHQ. It is customary that the director of the CIA is a public figure.”
Similarly, the the public speech highlights the fine balance between secrecy and accountability:
“This country has enemies who need to be stopped. ڲѱ6’s work is important, and cannot be conducted in the glare of publicity. A secret service has to be secret. But it also has to be trusted and accountable. The balance is better than it was in the bad old unaccountable days of the cold war. Sir John has taken another important step in the process. But a new normality for the accountability of intelligence and security in the 21st century has not yet been achieved.”
The Sir John's condemnation of torture following, it says, the Labour government's undermining of the relationship between British citizens and the intelligence services:
“Sir John is right to make it clear that Britain can never be complicit in the use of torture, but he is also correct that behind this principle lies a host of complicated judgments when dealing with our often murky allies in the war on terror.
"He says that MI6 must reflect the values of the nation it guards. That is an excellent starting point.”
Sir John's is guilty of “humanitarian posturing” and says the speech reveals a “cosy relationship with some despicable states”:
“So the despotic, torturing regimes of north Africa and the Middle East have a ‘friend’ at the summit of MI6. And he says we should not push for democracy in these countries because we might “undermine the controls” that exist there.
"I suspect Sawers has revealed more than he intended in his speech. And it’s not a pretty sight.”
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