Suchergebnisse

© 2021 The Author(s). Diversity and inclusivity remain top priorities for UK intelligence, having been much maligned for the largely white, male stereotype. The Intelligence & Security Committee of Parliament has published a number of reports suggesting that, even in 2018, the UK's agencies were still behind Whitehall. Historically, there have been issues with female, BAME and LGBT representation, with the article placing today's criticism of the agencies in historical context with a particular focus on the period after 1945. The article also examines the position now and the steps taken by the agencies to promote change, suggesting there are grounds for cautious optimism.

© 2021 The Author(s). For much of the 20th Century, intelligence and security was a taboo subject for Parliamentarians. While Labour backbenchers had suspicions of the secret state, there was a long-held bipartisan consensus that debates on intelligence were 'dangerous and bad'. Yet by the 1970s, new disclosures on the activities of foreign intelligence and domestic surveillance eroded this consensus with the Labour Party willing to push for greater accountability and oversight of the UK's intelligence agencies. This article looks at how, through the campaign to reform intelligence oversight, Labour pushed for changes reflected in later legislation. It also explores Labour's attitudes to intelligence.

For much of the 20th Century, intelligence and security was a taboo subject for Parliamentarians. While Labour backbenchers had suspicions of the secret state, there was a long-held bipartisan consensus that debates on intelligence were 'dangerous and bad'. Yet by the 1970s, new disclosures on the activities of foreign intelligence and domestic surveillance eroded this consensus with the Labour Party willing to push for greater accountability and oversight of the UK's intelligence agencies. This article looks at how, through the campaign to reform intelligence oversight, Labour pushed for changes reflected in later legislation. It also explores Labour's attitudes to intelligence.

Diversity and inclusivity remain top priorities for UK intelligence, having been much maligned for the largely white, male stereotype. The Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament (ISC) has published a number of reports suggesting that even in 2018 the UK's agencies – MI5, SIS and GCHQ – were still behind Whitehall generally, particularly in senior leadership. Historically, there have been issues with female, BAME and LGBT representation at all levels, with the article placing today's criticism of the agencies in historical context with a particular focus on the period after 1945. The article also examines the position now and the steps taken by the agencies to promote change. Even if past reviews have provoked criticism, this article argues there are grounds for cautious optimism in efforts to make Britain's intelligence agencies more representative of society.

This article uses the inter-war and wartime career of Anthony Eden, as a vehicle to understand the little understood relationship between secret intelligence, British Foreign Secretaries and the Foreign Office. While secret intelligence is no longer the 'missing dimension' it once was in studies of diplomatic and political history, its use by British Foreign Secretaries remains a neglected subject. The article also sheds important new light on the Foreign Office's wartime use of intelligence, especially diplomatic signals intelligence (SIGINT), a subject often overshadowed by the use of military SIGINT from Bletchley Park, showing the close relationship between intelligence officials and British diplomats in guiding British foreign policy. As Foreign Secretary in the 1930s and 40s, Eden showed himself to be a skilful reader of intelligence reports, using this information as he went about crafting Britain's policy towards the increasingly bellicose powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.

" 2019 The Author(s). This article uses the inter-war and wartime career of Anthony Eden, as a vehicle to understand the little understood relationship between secret intelligence, British Foreign Secretaries and the Foreign Office. While secret intelligence is no longer the 'missing dimension', it once was in studies of diplomatic and political history, its use by British Foreign Secretaries remains a neglected subject. The article also sheds important new light on the Foreign Office's wartime use of intelligence, especially diplomatic signals intelligence (SIGINT), a subject often overshadowed by the use of military SIGINT from Bletchley Park, showing the close relationship between intelligence officials and British diplomats in guiding British foreign policy. As Foreign Secretary in the 1930s and 1940s, Eden showed himself to be a skilful reader of intelligence reports, using this information as he went about crafting Britain's policy towards the increasingly bellicose powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan.