Britain withdraws agents over fears after Snowden files leaked

Britain has been forced to withdraw intelligence agents from operations because Russia and China have obtained access to secret information in files stolen by US whistleblower Edward Snowden, senior UK government sources have indicated.

The ex-National Security Agency contractor — now in Russia — has insisted that crucial data in the material could not be accessed by foreign powers but UK security chiefs have warned that his actions had compromised anti-terror activity.

In what was described by former Government Communications HQ director David Omand as a “huge strategic setback” for the West, it was reported that Moscow and Beijing had “cracked” information that exposed intelligence-gathering techniques and could identify individual spies.