Spooks & Spies

e use of intelligence and undercover telligence overseas to support the govern - work is a vast and intriguing topic. For ment’s security, defence, foreign and eco - Mansfield Cumming . some of us, the world of spies is best left nomic policies. GCHQ brings intelligence October 1909 alone or taboo, while for others it may be and technology together to counter sophis - Diary entry: “went to the office and a source of excitement, an obsession, or ticated threats such as terrorism and cyber remained all day, but saw no one, even a necessity. For many, the UK intelli - attacks. nor was there anything to do there.” gence services have been well described by Anyone who wishes to be employed by cinema and television screens, radio docu - any of the above intelligence services need mentaries, novels, the press and of course seek no more than to visit their websites. whistleblowers. It’s one thing to fantasise Unlike the early days, word of mouth rec - about a career and lifestyle as an under - ommendation or class status are no longer A New Statesman cover agent and quite another to live criteria for making it onto their payroll. All journalist, David Rose , through the experience and be able to tell three are equal opportunity providers, have it. Many people share their stories and ex - was introduced to the work of MI6 a good regard for gender and do not dis - perience on the Internet, through docu - over lavish tea and luncheon criminate against those that are physically mentaries and books. How is undercover invitations at the Ritz. He became challenged. Positions are publicly adver - work organised in the UK? What is the the primary contact to source tised and demand a certain level of discre - history behind it? Where is the influence tion from potential candidates who face information for his paper until felt and made visible in society? suddenly MI5 cut him off without Did you know that three organisations rigorous interviews and vetting. warning. The excuse was that his officially make up the core of the UK in - e Home Secretary oversees the work press articles turned out to be telligence services? e Government Communications Headquarters unhelpful to the ‘Office’. David has (GCHQ), Security Service (MI5), and since delivered analytical accounts Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, aka MI6) about the relationship between the collectively employ more than an esti - Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), mated 10,000 people to assure protection aka MI6, and the fourth estate, for the UK and its citizens. Each agency i.e. media and the press in the holds an individual mandate: MI5 is the public domain. country’s domestic counter-intelligence and security agency, while MI6 gathers in -

Espionage is an intriguing topic Keith Jeffrey was appointed by because it raises many questions the Secret Intelligence Service in that lead to assumptions, confusion 2005 to write the first official and controversy. Fiction and non- history of the British Intelligence fiction thrillers reflecting war Service ‘MI6: The History of the Secret history and espionage are today Intelligence Service, 1909-1949, ’ complemented with accounts of published in 2010. terrorism and cyber attack.

18 FOCUS The Magazine January/February 2017 www.focus-info.org The Fusion Cell is a joint industry and government analytical team that examines, analyses and provides feedback on cyber information from a wide variety of data sources. It was established by the UK national computer emergency response team in 2014.

of MI5 while MI6 is accountable to the Espionage and authority of the Foreign and public entertainment Commonwealth Office (FCO). e former A total of 25 James Bond films have been was co-founded by a military man with released since Dr No in 1963. Spectre, linguistic talent, Vernon Kell. He took re - grossed US$879 million globally in 2015, sponsibility from the War Office in 1909 short of Skyfall’s US$1 billion only three and carried out an undercover operation years earlier in 2012 proving espionage re - with only 16 staff. Kell masterminded lated entertainment a lucrative business. Stella Remington was the Operation Double Cross, which disman - A number of real-life spies are believed first female head of any intelligence tled a Germany spy network using decep - to have provided the inspiration to Bond’s agency in the world. tion methods that remain outstanding in creator, Ian Fleming. Agent Zigzag, aka warfare history. Eddie Chapman, the safe-cracking crimi - Scare stories about German spies moti - nal turned double agent, is said to have in - vated the formation of the MI6, also in spired the fiction of James Bond. He was 1909, under the leadership of Mansfield converted from a Nazi spy to an MI5 Cummings. He set his own base and ac - agent and carried out acts of sabotage in commodation in Ashley Mansions in Britain on behalf of the Germans. Vauxhall Bridge Road and later, in 1910, Chapman was known for blowing open setup a bogus shippers and exporters ad - safes and jumping out of Nazi planes. dress introducing the first import/export Juan Pujol Garcia had the Germans be - espionage cover. lieve that he was a Spanish businessman Cummings and Kell worked closely with connected to a network of spies that sup - military intelligence during the outbreak of plied him with badly needed information the First World War. at same year, about the UK. In reality, he was working Cummings was caught in a major road ac - with MI5 under the alias Garbo and sup - cident to which he lost his son and his plied the Germans with disinformation. foot. He had a reputation for interrupting Forest Yeo-omas alias White Rabbit, meetings in his office by suddenly stabbing took on the identities of his enemies, his artificial leg with a knife. It was also jumped from trains, strangled guards and said that he used this as a method to test used disguises to evade detection. the nerves of potential MI6 recruits. Among award-winning spy MI5 faltered under budget cuts after the novels outside John Le First World War, but resurfaced to counter Carré’s league is Mick communist and fascist subversion in the Herron’s Slow Horses UK during the 1930s. e Security Service (2010), Gold Dagger Manfield Cumming was the first was involved in preventing enemy espi - award-winner Dead Lions ‘C’ (or fictionally called ‘M’ of onage, intercepting German communica - (2013) and Real Tigers MI6) and famously used green tions and feeding misinformation back to (2016), which is claimed to ink, a custom upheld throughout Germany during the Second World War. read like an episode of the history of the service. Subversion and Soviet espionage became ‘Spooks’ written by Ricky Gervais. the priority during the Cold War with the e spy world is great from a distance and focus later moving to Northern Ireland quite the career if you can manage it. is and Libya until the 9/11 terrorist attacks writer prefers to take it on for bedtime on the US, which prompted the agency reading, which is a guaranteed not-so-bad to introduce major changes in the way it experience. operated.

Nightingale Jennings is a journalist and media researcher. She can be contacted at [email protected].