The Security Service commonly known as MI5 (Military Intelligence, Section 5),^[1] is the United Kingdom's The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land counter-intelligence Counterintelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of nations, are vulnerable to attack. It is the role of intelligence cycle and security agency A security agency is an organization which conducts intelligence activities for the internal security of a nation, state or organization. They are the domestic cousins of foreign intelligence agencies and is part of the intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. It is more often referred to in the mass media and popular parlance by its former name MI6. Alongside the internal Security Service (MI5), the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS), it (SIS or MI6), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Defence Intelligence Staff The Defence Intelligence Staff is a key member of the United Kingdom Intelligence Community but differs from the Agencies (SIS, GCHQ, and the Security Service) in that it is not a stand-alone organisation but is a constituent part of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The organisation employs a mixture of civilian and military staff and is funded (DIS). All come under the direction of the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC). The service has a statutory basis in the Security Service Act 1989 and the Intelligence Services Act 1994. Its remit includes the protection of British parliamentary The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth democracy Democracy is a political form of government where governing power is derived from the people, either by direct referendum or by means of elected representatives of the people (representative democracy). The term comes from the Greek: δημοκρατία - (dēmokratía) "rule of the people", which was coined from δῆμος (dêmos) & and economic interests, counter-terrorism Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed and counter-espionage Counterintelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of nations, are vulnerable to attack. It is the role of intelligence cycle within the UK. Although mainly concerned with internal security Internal security, or IS, is the act of keeping domestic peace within a country. It is often carried out by police, government personnel, specialized military or paramilitary forces (such as the French GIGN) who may be armed with lethal or less than lethal weapons, it does have an overseas role in support of its mission. Conversely, to ensure that the Home Secretary The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State. The Home Secretary is responsible for internal affairs within England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the is responsible for intelligence operations within the UK, the Service may act on behalf of SIS and GCHQ^{[citation needed]} even if the operation is outside its own functions (SIS and GCHQ report to the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a member of the Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and responsible for relations with foreign countries, matters pertaining to the Commonwealth of Nations and the UK's overseas territories and the).

The service has had a national headquarters at Thames House on Millbank Millbank is an area of central London in the City of Westminster. Millbank is located by the River Thames, east of Pimlico and south of Westminster. The area derives its name from a mill house belonging to nearby Westminster Abbey in London London is a leading global city being the world's largest financial centre alongside New York City, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence in politics, finance, education, entertainment, media, since 1995, drawing together personnel from a number of locations into a single HQ facility. Thames House is shared with the Northern Ireland Office The Northern Ireland Office is a United Kingdom government department responsible for Northern Ireland affairs. The NIO is led by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, currently The Rt. Hon. Shaun Woodward, M.P., supported by the Minister of State for Northern Ireland, currently Paul Goggins, M.P.. The NIO, based at Stormont House, has and is also home to the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, a subordinate organisation to the Security Service. The service has eight offices across Great Britain,^[2] and it is claimed that one is to be in Glasgow Glasgow (pronounced /ˈɡlæzɡoʊ/ ; Scots: Glesga Scottish Gaelic: Glaschu) is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands. A person from Glasgow is known as a Glaswegian, which is also the name of the local dialect.^[3] Within the civil service community the service is colloquially known as Box 500 (after its official wartime address of PO Box 500; its current address is PO Box 3255, London SW1P 1AE).^[4]

Command, control and organisation

The Security Service comes under the authority of the Home Secretary The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the Home Office of the United Kingdom, and one of the country's four Great Offices of State. The Home Secretary is responsible for internal affairs within England and Wales, and for immigration and citizenship for the whole of the within the Cabinet In the politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers.^[5] The service is headed by a Director General at the grade of a Permanent Secretary The Permanent Secretary, in most departments officially titled the Permanent Under-Secretary of State , is the most senior civil servant of a British Government ministry, charged with running the department on a day-to-day basis. The permanent secretary (known by other names in some departments; see below) is the non-political civil service head ( of the British Civil Service Her Majesty's Home Civil Service, also known as just the Home Civil Service, is the permanent bureaucracy of Crown employees that supports Her Majesty's Government - the government of the United Kingdom, composed of a Cabinet of ministers chosen by the prime minister, as well as the devolved administrations in Wales and Scotland (the Scottish who is directly supported by an internal security organisation, secretariat, legal advisory branch and information services branch. The Deputy DG is responsible for the operational activity of the service, being responsible for four branches; international counter-terrorism, National Security Advice Centre (counter proliferation and counter espionage), Irish and domestic counter-terrorism and technical and surveillance operations.

The service is directed by the Joint Intelligence Committee^[6] for intelligence operational priorities and liaises with the SIS, GCHQ, DIS and a number of other bodies within the British government and industrial base. The service is overseen by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Members of Parliament directly appointed by the Prime Minister The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party, and ultimately to the electorate. Judicial oversight is also vested in the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner.

Operations of the service are required to be proportionate and compliant with British legislation including Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 An Act to make provision for and about the interception of communications, the acquisition and disclosure of data relating to communications, the carrying out of surveillance, the use of covert human intelligence sources and the acquisition of the means by which electronic data protected by encryption or passwords may be decrypted or accessed; to, Data Protection Act 1998 The Data Protection Act 1998 is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people. It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK. Although the Act itself does not mention privacy, it was enacted to bring UK law into line with the European and various other items of legislation. Information held by the service is exempt from disclosure under section 23 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. It is an Act of Parliament that introduces a public "right to know" in relation to public bodies. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of the.^[7]

The current Director General is Jonathan Evans, who succeeded Dame Dame is the female equivalent of address to Sir for a British knighthood. In the UK honours system, this can be the title of a woman who has been made a Dame Commander or Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, Order of St Michael and St George, Royal Victorian Order, or Order of the British Empire Eliza Manningham-Buller on 8 April 2007.^[8]

The service has marked its centenary in 2009 by publishing an official history, written by Professor Christopher Andrew, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is the second oldest university in England and the fourth oldest in Europe. In post-nominals the university's name is abbreviated as Cantab, a shortened form of Cantabrigiensis (an adjective derived from Cantabrigia, the Latinised form of Cambridge), published in hardback in October 2009 by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane. Penguin revolutionized publishing in the 1930s through its high quality cheap paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large audiences existed for serious books. Penguin also had a significant impact on public.^[9]

History

Early years

The Security Service is derived from the Secret Service Bureau, founded in 1909 in a national climate of pre-war paranoia and possibly influenced by invasion literature Invasion literature was a historical literary genre most notable between 1871 and the First World War (1914). The genre first became recognizable starting in Britain in 1871 with The Battle of Dorking, a fictional account of an invasion of England by Germany. This short story was so popular it started a literary craze for tales that aroused to control secret intelligence operations in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. It was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland, with Ireland being governed directly from Westminster through its Dublin Castle administration and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government as a joint initiative of the Admiralty The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Originally exercised by a single person, the office of Lord High Admiral was from the 18th Century onward almost invariably put "in commission", and was exercised by the Lords Commissioners and the War Office The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1963, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence. The name "War Office" is also often given to the former home of the department, the Old War Office Building on Horse Guards. The Bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign target espionage and internal counter-espionage activities respectively. This specialisation was a result of the Admiralty intelligence requirements related to the maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy. This specialisation was formalised prior to 1914 and the beginning of World War I World War I was a military conflict that lasted from 1914 to 1918 and involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 15 million people were, with the two sections undergoing a number of administrative changes and the home section becoming Directorate of Military Intelligence Section 5 (MI5), the name by which it is known in popular culture to this very day.

The founding head of the Army section was Captain Vernon Kell of the South Staffordshire Regiment, who remained in that role until the early part of the Second World War Albania · Australia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Brazil · Bulgaria · Burma · Cambodia · Canada · Ceylon (Sri Lanka) · Channel Islands · China · Czechoslovakia · Denmark · Dutch East Indies · Egypt · Estonia · Finland · France · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Greenland · Hong Kong · Hungary · Iceland ·. Its role was originally quite restricted; existing purely to ensure national security through counter-espionage. With a small staff and working in conjunction with the Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in Ireland's Garda Síochána. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usually of a political nature, and conducts investigations to protect the State from perceived of the Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service is the territorial police force responsible for policing within Greater London, excluding the 'square mile' of the City of London which is the responsibility of the City of London Police, the service was responsible for overall direction and the identification of foreign agents, whilst Special Branch provided the manpower for the investigation of their affairs, arrest and interrogation.

Founded in a climate of hysteria over an alleged huge German spy network, the service was successful, against admittedly weak opposition, prior to the war. The service identified a total of 22 agents, 21 of whom were interned at the start of the war, following a period of covert surveillance. This strategy was adopted based on the assessment that agents apprehended would likely be replaced, their identities unknown to the service. Predicated on the ability of the service to quickly apprehend the suspects, success was assured by providing Kell twelve hours' notice of the outbreak of war. The arrests deprived Imperial Germany The German Empire is and was the official term used to refer to Germany from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871 to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of Wilhelm II (28 November 1918) completely of reliable eyewitness intelligence from within Britain.

Inter-war period

After this auspicious start, the history of MI5 becomes darker. It was consistently successful throughout the rest of the 1910s and the 1920s in its core counter-espionage role. Germany continued to attempt to infiltrate Britain throughout the war, but using a method that depended on strict control of entry and exit to the country and, crucially, large-scale inspection of mail, MI5 was able to identify most of, if not all of, the agents dispatched. In post-war years attention turned to attempts by the Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the Russian: Союз Советских Социалистических Республик (help·info), tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, IPA [sɐˈjʊs sɐˈvʲeʦkʲɪx səʦɪ and the Comintern The Communist International was an international communist organization founded in Moscow in March 1919. The International intended to fight "by all available means, including armed force, for the overthrow of the international bourgeoisie and for the creation of an international Soviet republic as a transition stage to the complete abolition to surreptitiously support revolutionary activities within Britain, and MI5's expertise combined with the early incompetence of the Soviets meant the bureau was successful once more in correctly identifying and closely monitoring these activities.

However, in the meantime MI5's role had been substantially enlarged. Due to the spy hysteria, MI5 was formed with far more resources than it actually needed to track down German spies. As is common within governmental bureaucracies, this meant it expanded its role in order to use its spare resources. MI5 acquired many additional responsibilities during the war. Most significantly, its strict counter-espionage role was considerably blurred. It became a much more political role, involving the surveillance not merely of foreign agents but of pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views, including the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved, calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war, opposition to any organization of society through and anti-conscription Conscription, also known as the draft or national service, is the compulsory enrollment of people and the term typically refers to their enlistment in a country's military. It is known by various names, for example, the most recent conscription program in the United States was known colloquially as "the draft". Conscription dates back to organisations, and organised labour. This was justified on the basis of the common (but mistaken) belief that foreign influence was at the root of these organisations. Thus by the end of the war, MI5 was a fully-fledged secret police (although it never had the powers of arrest), in addition to being a counter-espionage agency.

This expansion of its role continued after a brief post-war power struggle with the head of the Special Branch Special Branch is a label customarily used to identify units responsible for matters of national security in British and Commonwealth police forces, as well as in Ireland's Garda Síochána. A Special Branch unit acquires and develops intelligence, usually of a political nature, and conducts investigations to protect the State from perceived, Sir The rank of Knight Bachelor is a part of the British honours system. It is the rank of a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not as a member of one of the organised Orders of Chivalry. Knights Bachelor are the most ancient sort of British knight (the rank existed during the reign of King Henry III ), but Knights Bachelor rank below Basil Thomson. MI5 also managed to acquire responsibility for security operations not only in Great Britain but throughout the British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a, and with the decline in the Empire the Security Officers based in the British High Commissions returned to London and joined the Service, which gave it a significant role in Ireland Ireland (pronounced [ˈaɾlənd],; Irish: Éire, pronounced [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann) is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest island in the world. It lies to the northwest of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland is Great Britain, separated from. MI5 now has a role similar to sections of the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language' Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency. The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime. Its motto is "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity",, if not as extensive, which includes counter terrorism and counter-espionage. This expansion had happened almost entirely without supervision; MI5 had no responsibility to Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth, and was often able to act with considerable independence even from the Cabinet In the politics of the United Kingdom, the Cabinet is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers and Prime Minister The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the political leader of the United Kingdom and the Head of Her Majesty's Government. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party, and ultimately to the electorate. Since 1994, MI5 activities have been subject to scrutiny by Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee.

MI5's operations during the Irish War of Independence were an unmitigated disaster. Due to MI5's penchant for sharing intelligence with the Dublin Metropolitan Police, its Irish operations were easily penetrated by the Irish Republican Army.^[10] Using D.M.P. Detectives Ned Broy and David Nelligan, Michael Collins was able to learn the names and lodgings of the MI5 agents of the Cairo Gang. On Bloody Sunday (1920), Collins ordered the assassination of MI5's top agents in Dublin. That afternoon, a mixed force of the British Army the Royal Irish Constabulary, and the Black and Tans retaliated by shooting up a Gaelic Football match at Croke Park.

In the aftermath, MI5 ceased sharing intelligence with the D.M.P. In response, Collins persuaded Detective Nelligan to let himself be recruited into MI5. Although MI5's agents were shocked that a Catholic Irishman desired to work for them, Nelligan was formally sworn into the British Secret Service. He then memorized the oaths, codes, and lodgings of his fellow agents and passed the information on to Collins. Nelligan further delivered falsified reports stating that the IRA was far more numerous and better supplied with guns and ammunition than was actually the case. Nelligan would later recall in his memoirs that Collins was planning another Bloody Sunday style purge at the time a ceasefire ended the War.^[11] Ironically, Nelligan's misinformation about the IRA's numbers and supplies played a major role in the British Cabinet's decision to grant independence to the Irish Free State.

MI5 operated in Italy during inter-war period. MI5 helped Benito Mussolini get his start in politics with the £100 weekly wage.^[12]

MI5's decline in counter-espionage efficiency began in the 1930s. It was to some extent a victim of its own success; it was unable to break the ways of thinking it had evolved in the 1910s and 1920s, in particular, to adjust to the new methods of the Soviet intelligence services the NKVD and GRU. It continued to think in terms of agents who would attempt to gather information simply through observation or bribery, or to agitate within labour organisations or the armed services, while posing as ordinary citizens.

The NKVD, however, had evolved more sophisticated methods; it began to recruit agents from within the British nobility, most notably from Cambridge University, who were seen as a long-term investment. They succeeded in gaining positions within the Government (and, in Kim Philby's case, within British intelligence itself), from where they were able to provide the NKVD with sensitive information. The most successful of these agents—Harold "Kim" Philby, Donald Maclean, Guy Burgess, Anthony Blunt and John Cairncross—went undetected until after the Second World War, and were known as the Cambridge Five. See also Melita Norwood and Klaus Fuchs.

Second World War

MI5 experienced further failure during the Second World War. It was chronically unprepared, both organisationally and in terms of resources, for the outbreak of war, and utterly unequal to the task which it was assigned—the large-scale internment of enemy aliens in an attempt to uncover enemy agents. The operation was badly mishandled and contributed to the near-collapse of the agency by 1940.

One of the earliest actions of Winston Churchill on coming to power in early 1940 was to sack the agency's long-term head, Vernon Kell. He was replaced initially by the ineffective Brigadier A.W.A. Harker, as Acting Director General. Harker in turn was quickly replaced by David Petrie, an SIS man, with Harker as his deputy. With the ending of the Battle of Britain and the abandonment of invasion plans (correctly reported by both SIS and the Bletchley Park ULTRA project), the spy scare eased, and the internment policy was gradually reversed. This eased pressure on MI5, and allowed it to concentrate on its major wartime success, the so-called "double-cross" system.

This was a system based on an internal memo drafted by an MI5 officer in 1936, which criticised the long-standing policy of arresting and sending to trial all enemy agents discovered by MI5. Several had offered to defect to Britain when captured; before 1939, such requests were invariably turned down. The memo advocated attempting to "turn" captured agents wherever possible, and use them to mislead enemy intelligence agencies. This suggestion was turned into a massive and well-tuned system of deception during the Second World War.

Beginning with the capture of an agent named Owens, codenamed SNOW, MI5 began to offer enemy agents the chance to avoid prosecution (and thus the possibility of the death penalty) if they would work as British double-agents. Agents who agreed to this were supervised by MI5 in transmitting bogus "intelligence" back to the German secret service, the Abwehr. This necessitated a large-scale organisational effort, since the information had to appear valuable but actually be misleading. A high-level committee, the Wireless Board, was formed to provide this information. The day-to-day operation was delegated to a subcommittee, the Twenty Committee (so called because the Roman numerals for twenty, XX, form a double cross).

The system was extraordinarily successful. A postwar analysis of German intelligence records found that of the 115 or so agents targeted against Britain during the war, all but one (who committed suicide) had been successfully identified and caught, with several "turned" to become double agents. The system played a major part in the massive campaign of deception which preceded the D-Day landings, designed to give the Germans a false impression of the location and timings of the landings (see Operation Fortitude).

All foreigners entering the country were processed at the London Reception Centre (LRC) at the Royal Patriotic School which was operated by MI5 subsection B1D, 30,000 were inspected at LRC. Captured enemy agents were taken to Camp 020, Latchmere House, for interrogation. This was commanded by Colonel Robin Stephens. There was a Reserve Camp, Camp 020R, at Huntercombe which was used mainly for long term detention of prisoners.^[13]

Post-war

The Prime Minister's personal responsibility for the Service was delegated to the Home Secretary Maxwell-Fyfe in 1952, with a directive issued by the Home Secretary setting out the role and objectives of the Director-General. The service was subsequently placed on a statutory basis in 1989 with the introduction of the Security Service Act. This was the first government acknowledgement of the existence of the service.

The post-war period was a difficult time for the Service with a significant change in the threat as the Cold War began, being challenged by an extremely active KGB and increasing incidence of Irish separatism and international terrorism. Whilst little has yet been released regarding the successes of the service there have been a number of intelligence failures which have created embarrassment for both the service and the government.

In 1983 one of its officers, Michael Bettaney, was caught trying to sell information to the KGB. He was subsequently convicted of espionage.

Following the Michael Bettaney case, Sir Philip Woodfield was appointed as a staff counsellor for the security and intelligence services. His role was to be available to be consulted by any member or former member of the security and intelligence services who had "anxieties relating to the work of his or her service"^[14] that it had not been possible to allay through the ordinary processes of management-staff relations, including proposals for publications.^[15]

The Service was instrumental in breaking up a large Soviet spy ring at the start of the 1970s, with 105 Soviet embassy staff known or suspected to be involved in intelligence activities being expelled from the country in 1971.

One episode involving MI5 and the BBC came to light in the mid-1980s. MI5 officer,Brigadier Ronnie Stonham, had an office in the BBC and took part in vetting procedures. See also Michael Rosen and Isabel Hilton [See Mark Hollingsworth and Richard Norton-Taylor Blacklist: The Inside Story of Political Vetting, 1988, Hogarth Press, p. 104. The relevant extract (Chapter 5) is online].

Controversy arose when it was alleged that the service was monitoring trade unions and left-wing politicians. A file was kept on Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson from 1945, when he became an MP, although the agency's official historian, Christopher Andrew maintains that his fears of MI5 conspiracies and bugging were unfounded.^[16] As Home Secretary the Labour MP Jack Straw discovered the existence of his own file dating from his days as a student radical.

One of the most significant and far reaching failures was an inability to conclusively detect and apprehend the "Cambridge Five" spy ring which had formed in the inter-war years and achieved great success in penetrating the government, and the intelligence agencies themselves. Related to this failure were suggestions of a high-level penetration within the service, Peter Wright (especially in his controversial book Spycatcher) and others believing that evidence suggested the former Director-General himself, Roger Hollis. The Trend inquiry of 1974 cleared Hollis of that accusation, later corroborated by the former KGB officer Oleg Gordievsky. Another spy ring, the Portland Spy Ring was exposed after a tip-off by Soviet defector Michael Goleniewski led to an extensive MI5 surveillance operation. The Special Branch of Scotland Yard played no part other than the physical apprehension of the suspects, despite some fanciful claims by Superintendent George Smith.

The Security Service's role in counter-terrorism

The end of the Cold War resulted in a change in emphasis for the operations of the service, assuming responsibility for the investigation of all Irish republican activity within Britain and increasing the effort countering other forms of terrorism, particularly in more recent years the more widespread threat of Islamist extremism.

The service has been attributed with a number of successes in breaking up and monitoring extremist Islamist networks since 2001.

It is also attributed with successfully infiltrating the Provisional Irish Republican Army (PIRA), with operations in conjunction with Special Branch from various police forces leading to 21 convictions for terrorism-related offenses between 1992 and 1999.

Whilst the British security forces in Northern Ireland have provided support in the countering of both republican and loyalist paramilitary groups since the early 1970s, republican sources have often accused these forces of collusion with loyalists. In 2006, an Irish government committee inquiry found that there was widespread collusion between British security forces and loyalist terrorists in the 1970s, which resulted in eighteen deaths.^[17][18]

The Security Service took responsibility for all security intelligence work in Northern Ireland from 2007 from the Police Service of Northern Ireland. Both Nuala O'Loan, the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland, and Al Hutchinson, the Oversight Commissioner of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, have expressed reservations. During April 2010 the Real IRA detonated a 120 lb. car bomb outside palace barracks in County Down which is the headquarters of MI5 in N. Ireland & also home to the 2nd Battalion The Mercian Regiment.

With the emergence of other terrorist threats in the United Kingdom the service has increased its resource commitment to the detection and prevention of these activities. Numerous raids against suspected militants, and the internment of key suspects in HM Prison Belmarsh in London, have been credited to Security Service intelligence. It has been reported that Security Service officers have been involved in interrogation of British citizens interned at the United States' Guantanamo Bay facility in Cuba.

Executive Liaison Groups enable MI5 to safely share secret, sensitive, and often raw intelligence with the police, on which decisions can be made about how best to gather evidence and prosecute suspects in the courts. Each organization works in partnership throughout the investigation, but MI5 retain the lead for collecting, assessing and exploiting intelligence. The police take lead responsibility for gathering evidence, obtaining arrests and preventing risks to the public.^[19]

Serious crime

In 1996, legislation formalised the extension of the Security Service's statutory remit to include supporting the law enforcement agencies in their work against serious crime.^[20] Tasking was reactive, acting at the request of law enforcement bodies such as the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), for whom MI5 agents performed electronic surveillance and eavesdropping duties during Operation Trinity.^[20] This role has subsequently been passed to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA).

Surveillance

In July 2006, Norman Baker MP accused the British Government of "hoarding information about people who pose no danger to this country", after it emerged that MI5 holds secret files on 272,000 individuals—equivalent to one in 160 adults.^[21] It was later revealed that a "traffic light" system operates:^[22][23]

• Green: active—about 10% of files
• Amber: enquiries prohibited, further information may be added—about 46% of files.
• Red: enquiries prohibited, substantial information may not be added—about 44% of files

Directors-General of the Security Service

• 1909–1940: Vernon Kell (from 1919, Sir Vernon Kell) (b. 1873–d. 1942)
• 1940–1941: Brigadier Oswald Allen Harker
• 1941–1946: Sir David Petrie (b. 1879–d. 1961)
• 1946–1953: Sir Percy Sillitoe (b. 1888–d. 1962)
• 1953–1956: Dick White (from 1955, Sir Dick White) (b. 1906–d. 1993)
• 1956–1965: Roger Hollis (from 1960, Sir Roger Hollis) (b. 1905–d. 1973)
• 1965–1972: Martin Furnival Jones (from 1967, Sir Martin Furnival Jones) (b. 1912–d. 1997)
• 1972–1979: Michael Hanley (from 1974, Sir Michael Hanley) (b. 1918–d. 2001)
• 1979–1981: Sir Howard Smith (b. 1919–d. 1996)
• 1981–1985: Sir John Jones (b. 1923–d. 1998)
• 1985–1988: Sir Antony Duff (b. 1920–d. 2000)
• 1988–1992: Patrick Walker (from 1990, Sir Patrick Walker) (b. 1932)
• 1992–1996: Stella Rimington (from 1996, Dame Stella Rimington) (b. 1935)
• 1996–2002: Stephen Lander (from 2000, Sir Stephen Lander) (b. 1947)
• 2002–2007: Eliza Manningham-Buller (now Baroness Manningham-Buller; b. 1948)
• 21 April 2007 – present: Jonathan Evans^[24]

Historical names of the Security Service

Although commonly referred to as "MI5", this was the Service's official name for only thirteen years (1916–29). However, as an acknowledgment of popular thought, "MI5" is used as a sub-title on the various pages of the official Security Service website (see links, below).

• October 1909: Founded as the Home Section of the Secret Service Bureau.
• April 1914: Became a subsection of the War Office Directorate of Military Operations, section 5 (MO5)—MO5(g).
• September 1916: Became Military Intelligence section 5—MI5.
• 1929: Renamed the Defence Security Service.
• 1931: Renamed the Security Service.

See also

• Counter Terrorism Command, Scotland Yard
• GCHQ
• Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre
• Lucy spy ring—alleged to have been a British/Ultra operation to the USSR
• MI6
• Spooks—a BBC television drama about the work of a group of MI5 officers (renamed MI-5 in the United States)

References

1. ^ "What's in a name?" MI5.gov.uk. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
2. ^ MI5 (2007-11-05). "Intelligence, Counter-terrorism and Trust". Press release. http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/intelligence-counter-terrorism-and-trust.html. Retrieved 2009-09-13.
3. ^ Kirkup, James (20 January 2005). "MI5 plans Scottish base to target terrorists". The Scotsman. http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=70502005. Retrieved 2007-09-27.
4. ^ Timothy Gerraty, The Irish War.
5. ^ Security Service Act of 1989.
6. ^ Intelligence Services Act 1994.
7. ^ "Freedom of Information Act, section 23". Office of Public Sector Information. http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/ukpga_20000036_en_3#pt2-l1g23. Retrieved 2009-02-03.
8. ^ Security Service Mi5 gets new new Director General, publictechnology.net
9. ^ MI5 | 1990 to Present
10. ^ T. Ryle Dwyer, The Squad and the Intelligence Operations of Michael Collins, Mercier Press.
11. ^ Ibid.
12. ^ Kington, Tom (2009-10-13). ""Recruited by MI5: the name's Mussolini. Benito MussoliniDocuments reveal Italian dictator got start in politics in 1917 with help of £100 weekly wage from MI5"". London: Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/13/benito-mussolini-recruited-mi5-italy. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
13. ^ Oliver Hoare, Camp 020: MI5 and the Nazi Spies — The Official History of MI5's Wartime Interrogation Centre, PRO 2000 ISBN 1-903365-08-2.
14. ^ HC Debs., 2 November 1987, col. 312.
15. ^ Official Report, 21 December 1988; Vol. 144, c. 538.
16. ^ MI5 kept file on former PM Wilson, BBC News, 3 Oct 09
17. ^ Irish Times article on report findings—The Irish Times
18. ^ Full Transcript of the Report
19. ^ Dr. Kim Howells, Could 7/7 Have Been Prevented? Review of the Intelligence on the London Terrorist Attacks on 7 July 2005, UK Cabinet Office, Intelligence and Security Committee, London, May 2009
20. ^ ^{a b} "Lords Hansard text for 10 June 1996". Hansard. Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld199596/ldhansrd/vo960610/text/60610-07.htm. Retrieved 2008-07-11.
21. ^ MI5 has secret dossiers on one in 160 adults—The Mail on Sunday, 9 July 2006.
22. ^ Parliamentary Answer Revealing Traffic Light Coding of MI5 Files—Hansard, 25 February 1998.
23. ^ "Traffic Light Coding of MI5 Files". Archived from the original on 2007-07-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20070702192621/http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmhansrd/cm060605/text/60605w0661.htm. —Hansard, 5 June 2006.
24. ^ MI5 (7 March 2007). "New Director-General Accounced". Press release. http://www.mi5.gov.uk/output/Page598.html. Retrieved 2008-07-11.

Further reading

• Andrew, Christopher (2009). The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5. Allen Lane. ISBN 1846142849. Published in the USA on November 2009 by Knopf as Defend the Realm. The Authorised History of MI5. ISBN 9780307263636.

External links

• Security Service
• Records of the Security Service on The National Archives' website.
• UK Intelligence Community On Line

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Categories: 1909 establishments | Buildings and structures in Westminster | Counter-intelligence agencies | Intelligence services of World War II | Law enforcement in the United Kingdom | United Kingdom intelligence agencies

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