MI6 Chief says the “front line is everywhere” in first speech, as the UK faces new “age of uncertainty”

In her first public speech, the new Chief of MI6 Blaise Metreweli will set out how MI6 is tackling new and emerging threats to the UK and its allies.

In her first public speech, the new Chief of MI6 Blaise Metreweli will set out today (Monday 15 December) how MI6 is tackling new and emerging threats to the UK and its allies.

The Chief will describe the increasingly complex and interconnected nature of global threats, ranging from technological disruption and hybrid threats to terrorism and information manipulation.

Speaking from inside MI6 HQ, Metreweli will describe how the UK is evolving to meet these challenges, through building partnerships and harnessing the technology needed to protect our national security and stay ahead of our adversaries.

Mastery of technology must infuse everything we do. Not just in our labs, but in the field, in our tradecraft, and even more importantly, in the mindset of every officer. We must be as comfortable with lines of code as we are with human sources, as fluent in Python as we are in multiple languages …

Focusing on the new hybrid threat landscape the UK faces, Blaise Metreweli will call out the acute threat posed by an “aggressive, expansionist, and revisionist” Russia.

Putin should be in no doubt, our support is enduring. The pressure we apply on Ukraine’s behalf will be sustained.

The export of chaos is a feature not a bug in the Russian approach to international engagement, and we should be ready for this to continue until Putin is forced to change his calculus.