MI5, MI6's domestic counterpart, also has a cool base at Thames House, on the opposite side of the river, a little further down. Tellingly, many British spies actually cheered when they saw the building blow up in The World Is Not Enough, Skyfall and Spectre. Additionally, quite a few consider it to be a rather ugly design. Many actual employees, however, consider it to be a massive security risk due to its location and some have bluntly said that if there was a sufficiently large and discreet building somewhere else in London, they'd relocate there with immediate effect. MI6 has a rather cool base, namely its headquarters at Vauxhall Cross on the River Thames. MI6 won't divulge if it has intelligence officers who get into Bond-style shenanigans. into doing the actual dirty work and providing information to officers, who normally have official cover and are protected under diplomatic rules. Agents are those who have been turned/bribed/intimidated/etc. Its reputation in media is inextricably linked to the James Bond mythos, and the agency's appearances in media tend to either play to, or directly contradict such notions.īy the way, the chief is known as ' C' (after Smith-Cumming), not 'M', although Ian Fleming, himself an ex-secret agent, was inspired by Smith-Cumming's use of green ink.Īlso note that in British intelligence, operatives directly employed by the various agencies are known as 'Intelligence Officers'.

Mitt Romney caused a minor scandal when he publicly divulged that he met with representatives of British intelligence while running for president. It's still considered to be bad form for politicians and other public officials to openly discuss MI6 and MI5's activities. The Secret Intelligence Service, almost always referred to in media by the term 'MI6' ( ''Military Intelligence, Branch 6'), is the external intelligence agency for the United Kingdom-it's basically the British-equivalent to the CIA in the United States, only older.įormed as the Secret Service Bureau in 1909 under the leadership of Captain Sir George Mansfield Smith-Cumming note an ex-sailor who was eccentric to say the least, writing in green ink and stabbing his false leg with a penknife to shock people, its existence was not officially acknowledged until 1994, although it now has a website.

Alfred batman mi6