Britain’s spies are feeling the pinch (Image: SIS)
BRITISH spies are being told to reel in their spending – and this is affecting operations for the first time, sources claimed last night.
It follows revelations that bean counters are now questioning the amount of time and expense it is taking for spooks to secure important assets.
The budget for Britain’s intelligence officers and operatives is contained in the Single Intelligence Account, which is divided among the Security Service (MI5), Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and GCHQ.
This suffered a 14 per cent cut last year to just £3.6 billion, though the last Conservative Government later boosted it by an additional £340 milion.
Apart from a ban on putting alcoholic beverages on to the expenses docket, which was introduced last year and is occasionally circumvented, the cuts so far have affected mundane things such as the “quality of toilet paper and to certain types of furniture”, an intelligence source said last night.
But things have changed since Labour’s October budget, with kept the Tory cuts.
In one case, an intelligence officer was tasked with “landing” a South American military asset in London.
The asset, who has not been identified for security reasons, had gradually let it be known that he was potentially amenable to a British overture, and this eventually led to two face-to-face meetings, one over lunch and the other over dinner.
To their surprise, the officer tasked with the operation received a official missive demanding to know why the task could not be accomplished over just one sitting.
“This has never happened before,” said a source. “We are used to being given the time required to cultivate assets. Now it feels that we are dealing with two equally difficult challenges: the turning of assets and keeping accountants happy.
“Assets need to feel see, they need to feel wanted and valued. That’s how it works. The process cannot always be rushed to meet a bottom line.”
But the cuts have gone even deeper.
Under the new regime, intelligence officers working for both the Secret Service (MI5) and Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) have been told to expect more pressure in allocating time for surveillance operations.
This may impact the effect of so-called Human Intelligence (HUMINT) operations which provide critical information to guide policy and allow for quick decisions.
Daniel Craig and Lea Seydoux in “No time to Die’. Bond would now be forced to buy his own Martinis (Image: Eon Productions)
Spy agencies in China and Russia spend enormous amounts on cultivating assets (Image: Public Domain)
“We’re just young mostly men and women who are determined to ensure the safety of this nation, but we neeed to be allowed to do our jobs.” Intelligence source.
Last year it was revealed that MI5 thwarted 43 late-stage terror attacks on British soil. While many were right-wing or Islamist in nature, other threats come from include so-called lone wolves or “involuntary celibates” (Incel) activists who both consume and spread hateful ideologies online.
, Iran and China are all present threats.
Parliamentary researcher Christine Lee was named by MI5 for interfering in political engagements, while Chinese businessmen and close friend of Yang Tengbo has now ben banned from the UK for his suspected ties to Beijing.
Cost-cutting measures for MI6 go beyond banning the use of business class for long-term flights to tightly regulating the need for travel at all, with each proposed journey requiring justification that it will yield results.
“That’s just not how the real world works,” said the source.
“We travel only after every effort is made to ensure a win, but it cannot always be guaranteed. Sometimes a gamble is needed.
“There are no fictional James Bond-types in our work, just mostly young men and women who are determined to ensure the safety of this nation.
“But we need to be allowed to do our job.”
In December MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore and CIA counterpart William Burns said much work was being done to “disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe by .
In a joint statement they added: “There is no question that the international world order is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War.”
Speaking last night Dr Paul Maddrell, author of Spy Chiefs, said: “If they’re saying it should be one lunch not two, that level of cost cutting will impact on an intelligence officer’s ability to do their job.
“Meanwhile, and the China are spending enormous amounts and money on cultivating assets . Cultivation is cultivation – it could take years.
“If you’re serious, you have to spend the money.”
Intelligence expert Nigel West said: “In the 1970s the US introduced an agent audit, because they thought they could replace human intelligence assets with satellites. The result was disastrous.
“When the US Embassy in Tehran as taken over by islamic students, there was not a single person employed by the CIA who spoke Farsi.
“An intelligence agency is only as good as its sources and if you cut back on the sources, then you will find yourself in trouble.”