The British Intelligence Services

Over the past two decades the UK’s security and intelligence agencies have emerged from the absolute blanket of secrecy in which they were shrouded during the Cold War and, albeit to varying degrees, have assumed a greater visibility. The Security Service (MI5), responsible for counter-terrorism and counter-intelligence work, has made the most significant moves in this direction. This is largely a consequence of its need to secure public trust, something which the legacy of its Cold War domestic role has made challenging. The roles of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) – the foreign intelligence service – and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) – the signals intelligence agency – remain much more opaque. Nevertheless, all three of these agencies have been subject to a form of oversight by parliamentarians since the mid-1990s which has served to shed greater light on their roles, requirements, abilities and limitations.