Modern-day spies are more likely to be women, from diverse backgrounds and even have lawyers helping them plan operations, the BBC‘s Security Correspondent Frank Gardner has revealed.
The days of a Roger Moore-era James Bond-type spy ‘slamming his way round the world, shooting people when he feels like it’ are over, Mr Gardner said.
He said: ‘I’ve met some very impressive women in the security industry. They were every bit as impressive as the men, if I may say so.
‘The modern world of espionage is very much not Oxbridge “buffed and toughed”, it’s very much more diverse.’
The days of a Roger Moore-era James Bond-type spy ‘slamming his way round the world’ are over. (Roger Moore stars as 007 in the James Bond film ‘For Your Eyes Only’)
The BBC expert said modern spies are more likely to be women from an ethnic background. (Frank Gardner pictured outside BBC studios)
Mr Gardner was giving at talk at the Buxton Literary Festival, in Derbyshire, about the latest in his series of novels about a fictitious MI6 spy.
He said his characters and plots are ‘based on a modern scenario’, with the latest novel, Invasion, set against the backdrop of a feared invasion of Taiwan by a belligerent China.
In earlier novels, Mr Gardner’s main protagonist, secret agent Luke Carlton, has faced very 21st century impediments to his work.
Mr Gardener said: ‘When Luke goes to Columbia, he has to take a lawyer with him. And at one point, Luke is stopped by his handler saying ‘you haven’t done your unconscious bias training’.
The journalist said use of lawyers by UK spooks stems from blunders such as in 2004, when ‘MI6 got themselves into a terrible mess’ over involvement in the illegal rendition of Libyan dissident Abdul Hakim Belhaj by the Gaddafi regime.
In 2018, then Prime Minister Theresa May was forced to apologise to Mr Belhaj, who spent six years in Gaddafi’s jails and says he was tortured.
Nowadays ‘every operation has to be legalled right from the get-go when lawyers will sit in the room while it’s being discussed and give their initial thoughts’, Mr Gardner said.
Mr Gardner spoke of the ‘clever’ positioning of China at the forefront of the world’s technological development
Mr Gardner said Russia’s economy is on a ‘war footing’, with 7-8% of GDP spent on defence factories given over to churning out cheap munitions. (Pictured, Russian President Vladimir Putin)
Discussing current global security threats, Mr Gardner spoke of the ‘clever’ positioning of China at the forefront of the world’s technological development – which would make economic sanctions difficult for the West.
He also told how a lack of defence spending means western European nations would struggle to cope with a war on the continent, and how a return of Donald Trump as US president could ‘pull the rug’ from under Ukraine.
Mr Gardner said: ‘The problem with China is it’s the second-biggest economy in the world and it’s hard-wired into the global economy. China is absolutely essential to the global supply chain.
‘This is a problem because China has done things in the recent past which have really upset the West, such as suppressing democracy in Hong Kong, oppressing the Uighurs, threatening Taiwan.
‘China’s behaviour is sufficient for the West to be concerned…. but if the West were to put really serious sanctions on China, it would hurt the West as much as China.’
Speaking of China’s role at the forefront of developing solar panels, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence, Mr Gardner said: ‘China has positioned itself very cleverly. In future, the world will depend on them.’
Turning to Russia, Mr Gardner stepped into the debate on defence budgets, saying that spending by western European countries is ‘painfully low and there are worries about that’.
He pointed out how Russia’s economy is on a ‘war footing’, with 7-8% of GDP spent on defence factories given over to churning out cheap munitions which are ‘not particularly good but can overwhelm the Ukrainians’.
Mr Gardner said: ‘I think the big worry with a lot of people in security, defence and international relations is we are not spending enough on defence. Britain currently spends 2.3% of GDP.
The BBC expert claimed a return of Donald Trump as US president could ‘pull the rug’ from under Ukraine. (Donald Trump is helped off the stage by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign event in Butler)
Mr Gardner said that if there is a challenge to Joe Biden’s bid to stand again as president for the Democrats, an 11th-hour candidate needs to be found ‘very quickly’. (President Joe Biden speaks at a news conference following the NATO Summit in Washington)
‘There have been a number of warnings by service chiefs that we are not spending enough on defence.
‘Our Army is the smallest it’s been since Napoleonic times. We’ve precious few ships, let alone planes to fight a full-scale war in Europe if it was able to erupt.’
Across the Atlantic, Mr Gardner said that if there is a challenge to Joe Biden’s bid to stand again as president for the Democrats, an 11th-hour candidate needs to be found ‘very quickly’.
He said a return of Donald Trump to the White House risked ‘America turning in on itself even more’.
But he added: ‘A lot of his supporters are saying, why should we spend our tax Dollars on defending Europe when they can’t spend 2.5% of GDP on defence?
‘If Trump becomes president there’s a pretty good chance of him pulling the rug from under Ukraine by pulling military aid.’
Mr Gardner said Eastern European states such as those in the Baltic fear they could be the next target of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression.
