On Her Majesty's Secret Service

James Bond, 007 burst onto our screens on the 5th October 1962 in the United Artists’ release, Dr No. Suave, sophisticated, deadly and British. The double ‘0’ meant he could kill whom he chose, when he chose and where he chose. With an expensive taste in clothes, cars, gambling and women, he was the ultimate “gentleman agent”. For 40 years and 20 films, agent 007 has battled deadly individuals and organisations with fantastical plots ranging from world domination to drug smuggling, saving the day with a beautiful woman in one hand and a bottle of Bollinger in the other. But whom exactly does James Bond work for? The answer, quite plainly, is the British Secret Service.

Truth is that ‘British Secret Service’ is a rather vague description that can capture a whole host of organisations under the command of Her Majesty’s Government. Here, we endeavour to have a peak into the secret world of British espionage and expel the myths and misunderstandings that exist, many of which propagated by the James Bond franchise itself.

The Structure of the UK's Intelligence Agencies

The UK has a high profile in world affairs.

The United Kingdom is one of the world’s leading economies. As one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, and a founding member of NATO and the Commonwealth, it pursues a global approach to foreign policy and its influence is felt around the globe. The role of the various security and intelligence agencies ensure that British security and economic well-being are protected, and also to support the law enforcement agencies in preventing and detecting serious crime.

The five main intelligence agencies of the United Kingdom are:

• the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS or 'MI6')
• Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ)
• Defence Intelligence Staff (DIS)
• Security Service (‘MI5’)
• Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC)

though the Metropolitan Police Special Branch unit and National Crime Intelligence Service also have roles to play in the security and economic well being of the realm.

The organisational structure of the intelligence agencies is shown below:

UK Intelligence Agencies: Structure © Federation of American Scientists

Over the next few weeks we will look at each of the UK's main intelligence agencies to find out exactly what it is they do and how, if possible, they go about doing it.

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