Why Britain's spy problem is getting worse – with ex-MI6 boss Nigel Inkster

The Bunker – News without the nonsense

Podmasters

News, Government, Politics, Society & Culture

4.6 • 1K Ratings

🗓️ 16 May 2024

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Britain has a spy problem, with a significant surge in threats from China, Russia and Iran in recent months. What kind of covert operations are they running? Gavin Esler sits down with former MI6 director of operations and intelligence and director of transnational threats and political risk at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Nigel Inkster, to find out just how concerned we should be. • “We’re seeing a significant upsurge in espionage and other forms of covert activity directed at western countries.” – Nigel Inkster • “At the end of the day, there is always going to be a role for the human source, for secret agents, because you need to know what is going on in the minds of key decision makers… you can’t interrogate a tape recorder or a satellite.” – Nigel Inkster We are sponsored by Indeed. Go to Indeed.com/bunker for £100 sponsored credit. Support us on Patreon. Written and presented by Gavin Esler. Producer: Eliza Davis Beard. Audio editor: Jade Bailey. Managing editor: Jacob Jarvis. Group Editor: Andrew Harrison. Music by Kenny Dickinson and artwork by James Parrett. THE BUNKER is a Podmasters Production. Instagram | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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1:16.0	and intelligence for the British Secret Intelligence Service SIS, commonly known as MI6.
1:22.0	Spies and spying have always been with us, but things are looking very different and very busy for MI6 right now.
1:29.7	Listeners will remember all those wonderful Cold War spy novels from Ian Fleming's James Bond to John Lecare and many others.
1:37.0	Fiction has moved on, so of the spies, employing different methods and equipment or what is sometimes called tradecraft as we'll hear in a moment.
1:45.0	First, a quick round up of spy facts right now and it's more worrying than fiction.
1:51.0	Six alleged spies for Russia were arrested in Britain in February.
1:55.0	In Germany arrests include an aid to Maximillion Kra. He's a far-right AFD alternative for
2:01.4	Deutschland MEP. One suspect, Jang Guo, is accused of being an employee of a Chinese secret service.
2:09.0	Another right-wing A.F.D politician Peter Baistron has denied receiving cash from a website Western agencies believe is a front for Russian intelligence.
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