MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 (Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligence on foreign nationals in support of its Five Eyes partners. SIS is one of the British intelligence agencies and the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service ("C") is directly accountable to the Foreign Secretary.[3]
For other uses, see MI-6 (disambiguation).Agency overview
4 July 1909
Semper Occultus ("Always Secret")
3,644[1]
Single Intelligence Account £3.711 billion (2021–22)[1]
Formed in 1909 as the foreign section of the Secret Service Bureau, the section grew greatly during the First World War officially adopting its current name around 1920.[4] The name "MI6" originated as a convenient label during the Second World War, when SIS was known by many names. It is still commonly used today.[4] The existence of SIS was not officially acknowledged until 1994.[5] That year the Intelligence Services Act 1994 (ISA) was introduced to Parliament, to place the organisation on a statutory footing for the first time. It provides the legal basis for its operations. Today, SIS is subject to public oversight by the Investigatory Powers Tribunal and the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament.[6]
The stated priority roles of SIS are counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, providing intelligence in support of cyber security, and supporting stability overseas to disrupt terrorism and other criminal activities.[7] Unlike its main sister agencies, Security Service (MI5) and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), SIS works exclusively in foreign intelligence gathering; the ISA allows it to carry out operations only against persons outside the British Islands.[8] Some of SIS's actions since the 2000s have attracted significant controversy, such as its alleged complicity in acts of enhanced interrogation techniques and extraordinary rendition.[9][10]
Since 1994, SIS headquarters have been in the SIS Building in London, on the South Bank of the River Thames.[11]
The main mission of SIS is to collect Britain's foreign intelligence. It provides the British government with vital intelligence regarding foreign events and informs concerning global covert capabilities to uphold national interests, security and protect the country's economic well-being. SIS works with the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and therefore falls under the supervision of the Foreign Secretary.[12]
SIS officers and agents engage in operations and missions all around the world. The SIS regularly cooperates and work with MI5 and GCHQ regarding domestic and cyber intelligence.[13] SIS have three primary tasks:[12]
The impact and success in these situations helps to prevent hostile influence, keep the UK's defences on alert to reduce serious and organised crime, and to detect violations of international law.[14]
Organisation[edit]
Governance and oversight[edit]
SIS is governed under the law of the United Kingdom and so the British government has the power to pass the mandate to SIS oversee independent investigation, intelligence gathering and oversight to operations.[15] The government set the necessary laws, regulations and needed funding to keep the SIS operating and to conduct its activities.[16]
Under these rules, SIS is accountable to the government of the time and the SIS carry out their work in accordance to the government's foreign policy. The Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for intelligence and security, with day-to-day ministerial responsibility with the Foreign Secretary, to whom the SIS report directly. The Foreign Secretary appoints the head of SIS, to oversee SIS daily management and work. [17]
Command and control over SIS is done through by four government entities: the Central Intelligence Machinery, the Ministerial Committee on the Intelligence Services, the Permanent Secretaries' Committee on the Intelligence Services, and the Joint Intelligence Committee.[18]
The Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC) assesses the intelligence gathered by the GCHQ, MI5, and SIS and presents it to the cabinet ministers, who in turn, enable the government's policies to help achieve national security and defence.[19] The JIC also reports the intelligence analysis, based on SIS gatherings, to the Cabinet Office itself.[20]
Oversight is undertaken by Parliament through the following organisations:[19]
History and development[edit]
Foundation[edit]
The service derived from the Secret Service Bureau, which was founded on 1 October 1909.[4] The Bureau was a joint initiative of the Admiralty and the War Office to control secret intelligence operations in the UK and overseas, particularly concentrating on the activities of the Imperial German government. The bureau was split into naval and army sections which, over time, specialised in foreign espionage and internal counter-espionage activities, respectively. This specialisation was because the Admiralty wanted to know the maritime strength of the Imperial German Navy. This specialisation was formalised before 1914. During the First World War in 1916, the two sections underwent administrative changes so that the foreign section became the section MI1(c) of the Directorate of Military Intelligence.[23]
Its first director was Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming, who often dropped the Smith in routine communication. He typically signed correspondence with his initial C in green ink. This usage evolved as a code name, and has been adhered to by all subsequent directors of SIS when signing documents to retain anonymity.[4][24][25]
First World War[edit]
The service's performance during the First World War was mixed, because it was unable to establish a network in Germany itself. Most of its results came from military and commercial intelligence collected through networks in neutral countries, occupied territories, and Russia.[26] During the war, MI6 had its main European office in Rotterdam from where it coordinated espionage in Germany and occupied Belgium.[27] A crucial element in the war effort from the British perspective was the involvement of Russia, which kept millions of German soldiers that would otherwise be deployed on the Western Front, engaged on the Eastern Front. On 7 November 1917 the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin overthrew the Provisional government in Petrograd and signed an armistice with Germany.[28] The main objective for the British was to keep Russia in the war, and MI6's two chosen instruments for doing so were Sidney Reilly, who despite his Irish name was a Russian-Jewish adventurer, and George Alexander Hill, a British pilot and businessman.[29] Officially, Reilly's mandate was to collect intelligence about the new regime in Russia and find a way to keep Russia in the war, but Reilly soon became involved in a plot to overthrow the Bolsheviks.[30]
Personnel[edit]
Selection and training[edit]
SIS agents are often chosen based on merit and skill by authorities at elite universities and military academies. The chosen recruit then must make a his or hers application within the United Kingdom, must be a British citizen or have been a resident of the UK for at least ten years.[126] First, all recruits must pass the an basic civil service entry exam before being introduced to a panel of SIS officers during an in-depth competency-based interview. If the interviewee passes, then finally, a detailed background and security check is provided for each candidate.[127]
Training for recruits takes place at Fort Monckton, Portsmouth. The chosen candidates must go through a intense six-month training programme known as the Intelligence Officer's New Entry Course (IONEC). IONEC recruits must learn how to select and handle agents, to operate under an cover identity and use tradecraft skills such as dead drops, surveillance and counter-surveillance techniques, secret writing and code writing. These skills would enable the incoming agents to successfully use these techniques during complex missions and operations.[128][129]
After the training programme ends, recruits will be fully inaugurated as SIS agents. SIS recruits rely on the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) for special operations and basic training, SIS operatives also receive training in firearm use, which includes pistols and submachine guns, although it woud be rare for an SIS agents to use or even carry a firearm in the line of duty.[130][131]
A special programme for recruits, stemming from an ethnic minority or low socio-economic background, a joint SIS, MI5, GCHQ Summer Intelligence Internship is available. If a would be recruit is in his or hers final (or penultimate) year of university (as of the 2023/24 academic year) that recruit will be chosen by academics to be admitted into the internship.[132]
Paramilitary Group[edit]
E Squadron is regarded as the sole paramilitary group within SIS and the government has highly classified government many of its responsibilities, with the wider public domain having knowledge about the group.[133] The group has been in the shadows and it was not recognized by the British government until the 1990s. Before the 1990s, the group as known mainly by pseudonym The Increment.[134]
Out of all the British special forces units, E Squadron is a branch of the wider UKSF and many of its combatants are hand-picked to work with the SIS. The group is available for undertaking any task at the requirement of the both UKSF Directorate and SIS. It is manned by operators from the Special Air Service (SAS), Special Boat Service (SBS) and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR).[135]
Salary[edit]
As of April 2024, the salary range for interns and recruits salaries was around £25,000 to £35,000. This would increase about to around £40,000 with the first promotion.[136]
As of April 2024, the starting salary for an agent was £31,807 a year, increasing to £34,385 the second year, with further increases thereafter.[136]
As of April 2024, salaries for SIS agents range from £33,800 to £42,700 a year.[136]
Awards[edit]
MI6 personnel are recognised annually by King Charles III (formerly the Prince of Wales) at the Prince of Wales's Intelligence Community Awards at St James's Palace or Clarence House alongside members of the Security Service (MI5), and GCHQ.[137] Awards and citations are given to teams within the agencies as well as individuals.[137]
