By Sam Jones
Two mandarins and a serving spy make up the shortlist of candidates to be the next head of GCHQ, as the electronic surveillance agency looks to outsiders to help rebuild public and political trust in the wake of the Edward Snowden leaks.
A decision on the new director of the organisation – the largest of the UK’s three intelligence services – will be taken within the fortnight, senior Whitehall figures told the Financial Times.
The final choice has been narrowed down to: Charles Farr, the director of security and counter terrorism at the Home Office; Robert Hannigan, director-general of defence and intelligence at the Foreign Office; and a third, senior member of the British intelligence community who cannot be named for security reasons in case he does not get the job.
In a departure from recent tradition, all three come from outside the agency and are consummate Whitehall operators. This is being seen by intelligence analysts as acknowledgment that the government wants the agency to be more outward looking.
“The perception is that Westminster is keen to take charge,” said Charlie Edwards, director of national security studies at the Royal United Services Institute.
The choice of who will lead GCHQ is particularly sensitive. The Cheltenham-based agency has gone from almost complete obscurity to being the focus of international criticism after revelations about its extensive online eavesdropping activities.
The damaging leaks – from documents stolen by Mr Snowden, the former US security contractor and now a fugitive protected by the Kremlin – have put GCHQ at the centre of a row over digital surveillance.
In today’s FT, David Davis, former Tory minister, warns that technology companies could be driven out of the UK by intrusive surveillance. He calls for a “re-evaluation of our intelligence collection methods”.
But security agencies have argued that greater surveillance is needed to monitor the digital activities of resurgent al-Qaeda linked terror groups and belligerent foreign states.
GCHQ’s chief, Sir Iain Lobban is to step down this year having worked for the organisation since 1983. His departure was long-planned and is unrelated to the Snowden leaks. (FT)
