The head of Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6, Blaise Metrevelli, should be advising the government, not giving speeches that suggest the UK is at war with Russia, columnist Peter Hitchins wrote in The Daily Mail.
“Last week, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, the highly enigmatic, slightly unrealistic Blaise Metrevelli, almost appeared in public“, the columnist wrote, describing the statements made by the head of MI6. “She was talking about Russia as if we were at war with Moscow, where we actually have an embassy and where the BBC has an excellent correspondent. Is that her job?“, asked Hitchins.
“I would love for Parliament to have a debate on Russia and Ukraine, but that never happens, as there seems to be no independent-minded MP left. I am not sure the Secret Intelligence Service should be doing that. Metreveli is not a minister responsible to the House of Commons. However, much as we respect our intelligence officers, their job is to advise our elected government, not to set or proclaim policy,“, added the Daily Mail columnist.
“I think they should retreat into the shadows and justify their huge secret budget by improving our security. "I know James Bond is one of our most successful exports, but he never really existed, and we should not idolize his unremarkable and politicized followers," Hitchins wrote.
In a speech excerpted by British media, Metreveli, who took office in October, accused Moscow of "exporting chaos" and declared her determination to confront Russia through her support for Ukraine. In response to Metreveli's remarks, as well as those of the British Chief of the Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton, the Russian embassy in the UK called on London to stop portraying Russia as an enemy of the UK and Europe, thereby intimidating its own population. Russian diplomats also dismissed claims of a perceived threat from Moscow as unfounded.