News / Foreign Policy

Incoming MI6 Chief has strong diplomatic and intellignece background

Wednesday, 29 July 2020 5:41 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 29 July 2020 5:41 PM ]

Richard Moore symbolizes the deep connectivity between the FCO and MI6

In the latest churn at the top of the British security establishment, Richard Moore has been named as the next chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), better known as MI6.

A senior diplomat, Moore is currently the political director at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and a former ambassador to Turkey.

Born in Libya, Moore epitomizes the revolving door between the FCO and MI6 as he originally joined SIS in 1987 and is reported to have held “director roles” in the service before he was seconded to the Foreign Office.

Moore will be replacing the outgoing MI6 chief, Alex Younger, in the autumn.

Younger is the latest intelligence chief to be removed early in what appears to be a deep crisis at the very top of British intelligence.

Back in late March it was announced that Ken McCallum was replacing Andrew Parker as head of the domestic Security Service, or MI5.

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As the UK grapples with an unprecedented national emergency, the Home Office has seen fit to replace the leadership of the Security Service MI5.

And only yesterday it was announced that Lindy Cameron is set to replace Ciaran Martin as the head of the GCHQ-controlled National Cyber Security Center.

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These sudden leadership changes may be a symptom of the deep anxiety at the heart of the British security apparatus.

Repeated setbacks – both in the form of terrorism and an inability to counter more powerful foreign intelligence services – may be driving these leadership rotations.

The recently released Russia report chastised the British intelligence community for failing to get to grips with actual and potential threats emanating from the Russian intelligence services.