Book brings Secret Service in from the cold

MI6 HAS lifted somewhat the veil of secrecy that has surrounded its operations for the past century with the publication of the first authorised history of the service.

Professor Keith Jeffery, of Queen’s University, Belfast, was given unrestricted access to the surviving historic files of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), as it is more properly known.

At the launch yesterday, John Scarlett, the former SIS chief who commissioned the book to mark its centenary last year, said it was a “radical step” for an agency whose watchword is secrecy.