Inside GCHQ: A conversation with the director
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 4 April 2022
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Over two episodes, Matthew Syed takes listeners inside GCHQ’s headquarters in Cheltenham. Today, he speaks to the Director, Sir Jeremy Fleming, on a wide range of topics, from the threats facing the UK, misinformation, the Online Harms Bill, and how working in security and intelligence has changed over the course of his 30-year career.
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Guest: Sir Jeremy Fleming, GCHQ Director.
Host: Matthew Syed.
Clips: Sky News
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello, it's Manvine. |
| 0:03.6 | Today and tomorrow, I'm handing over to my colleague, the Times and Sunday Times writer, Matthew |
| 0:08.7 | Side. |
| 0:09.7 | He's been given an exclusive look inside one of the most secretive organisations in the |
| 0:14.4 | country, the Intelligence Agency, GCHQ. |
| 0:18.7 | Today, he interviews its director, Sir Jeremy Fleming, and tomorrow we'll be hearing |
| 0:24.6 | what it's like to work inside the GCHQ nerve centre in Cheltenham, over to Matthew. |
| 0:35.2 | As this terrible war in Ukraine rages on, the critical importance of trustworthy information |
| 0:42.1 | becomes ever more stark. |
| 0:44.4 | Now, the head of one of the UK's most important intelligence agencies has reiterated how |
| 0:50.6 | information is being misused by the Russians. |
| 0:56.0 | This week, the Russian MODs stated publicly that they would drastically reduce combat operations |
| 1:01.0 | around Kiev and a city in the north. |
| 1:05.0 | It looked like they had been forced to make a significant change, but then they proceeded |
| 1:14.0 | to launch attacks in both those places. |
| 1:17.8 | Mixed messages or deliberate misinformation. |
| 1:21.1 | Sir Jeremy Fleming, the director of GCHQ, has made an extraordinary intervention in |
| 1:26.9 | the information war surrounding the conflict. |
| 1:30.1 | We've seen Russian soldiers, short of weapons and morale, refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging |
| 1:38.0 | their own equipment, and even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft. |
| 1:44.8 | But who is the man overseeing the work of the members of staff carrying out highly classified |
| 1:50.4 | work? |
... |
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