Speaking to the Telegraph in December 2021<\/a> when she was at MI5, under the pseudonym of \u201cDirector K\u201d, Ms Metreweli said threats to UK national security \u201creally are diverse\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cThe threats we are looking at primarily exist around protecting government, protecting secrets, protecting our people \u2013 so counter-assassination \u2013 protecting our economy, sensitive technology and critical knowledge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She added that \u201cRussian state activity \u2013 not Russia itself \u2013 remains a threat\u201d and that China was \u201cchanging the way the world is and that presents amazing opportunities and threats for the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n
What does \u2018C\u2019 do?<\/h2>\n
C is the head of MI6, officially known as Secret Intelligence Service, and they report to the foreign secretary.<\/p>\n
C is also part of the Joint Intelligence Committee, alongside heads of other departments and senior government officials. It receives intelligence reports, analyses ongoing situations and advises the prime minister<\/p>\n
It is a common misnomer to think that the \u201cC\u201d stands for Chief. It does not. Britain\u2019s very first spy agency was called the Secret Service Bureau, established in the 1900s. It was led by a Royal Navy officer, Captain Mansfield Cumming. He always signed his letters \u201cC\u201d and the codename has stuck.<\/p>\n
Captain Cumming wrote in green ink. To this day, the head of MI6 is the only person in Whitehall who will write in green.<\/p>\n
And does C give his or her agents a \u201clicence to kill\u201d? No. But the foreign secretary can. Under Section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994, an MI6 agent can be authorised to carry out certain actions which would otherwise be illegal \u2013 including using lethal force. But it is a long and complicated legal process.<\/p>\n
The organisation she will be running faces unprecedented and multiple challenges.<\/p>\n
Geographically, these emanate primarily from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as the four nations co-operate ever more closely to undermine UK and Western interests across the globe.<\/p>\n
But there are technical challenges too.<\/p>\n
MI6\u2019s role is to recruit human agents to steal secrets from Britain\u2019s adversaries, which include both hostile nations and non-state groups like al-Qaeda.<\/p>\n
In an age of rapid digital innovation, MI6 is having to pedal ever faster to stay ahead of its enemies and to remain relevant, when so much intelligence is now gathered online and from space.<\/p>\n
Last September, outgoing chief Sir Richard \u2013 alongside then-CIA chief William Burns \u2013 warned that the international world was \u201cunder threat in a way we haven\u2019t seen since the Cold War\u201d.<\/p>\n
Writing in the Financial Times, the pair said that beyond the war in Ukraine, the two foreign intelligence services were continuing to \u201cwork together to disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe being waged by Russian intelligence\u201d.<\/p>\n
Sir Richard and Mr Burns added that they saw the rise of China as the main intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the century. They also said they had pushed \u201chard\u201d for restraint and de-escalation in the Middle East.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Sir Richard, who will step down in the autumn after five years in the role, said he was \u201cabsolutely delighted\u201d with the \u201chistoric appointment\u201d of his colleague.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlaise is a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am excited to welcome her as the first female head of MI6.\u201d<\/p>\n
Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to whom Ms Metreweli will be accountable as MI6\u2019s new chief, said she was the \u201cideal\u201d candidate and would ensure the UK was able to tackle the challenges of \u201cglobal instability and emerging security threats\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would also like to pay tribute to Sir Richard Moore for his service and leadership,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have worked closely with him over the past year and thank him for his valuable contribution enhancing our national security and protecting the British public.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sir Keir also thanked Sir Richard for his \u201cdedicated service\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Blaise will continue to provide the excellent leadership needed to defend our county and keep our people safe,\u201d he added.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service\u2019s 116-year history. Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th chief of the organisation and take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year. She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116612"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116612\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}