New Delhi: Sir Alex Younger, the longest serving British spy chief in half a century, has died at the age of 62. Younger, during whose 2014-20 tenure the United Kingdom had to deal with a number of global challenges, including the war against the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) and Russia’s expansionism in eastern Europe, led MI6 through a transitional period including the British exit from the European Union (EU).
As the head of MI6, Younger oversaw the extensive British national security apparatus, including attending the UK’s national security council meetings and advising at least three Prime Ministers during his tenure.Younger’s five-year tenure was extended in 2019 by a year, to allow for continuity during the UK’s exit from the EU. The head of MI6 is the only publicly named agent of the British intelligence services. Furthermore, the head of MI6 is also known as ‘C’ after the first chief of the intelligence service Mansfield Smith-Cumming.
Through his tenure as the head of MI6, Younger attempted to make the organisation more public. The intelligence services were only publicly acknowledged by the British government in 1994, despite its existence since at least 1909. MI6 became famously known for literary characters from John Le Carre’s novels or even James Bond, the swashbuckling spy written by Ian Fleming.“We do things in defence of national security that would not be justified in pursuit of private interest. But only when they are judged by ministers to be necessary and proportionate. We break the rules, certainly; we do not break the law,” said Younger in a letter to the editor of The Economist in 2017.The former British spy chief added: “But it is certainly true that a country’s intelligence service can offer an unvarnished reflection of the values of the country it serves. The Stasi told you all you needed to know about the East German regime. The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), and our sister services, GCHQ and MI5, tell you a lot about modern Britain.”A career intelligence officer from 1991, Younger was born on 4 July 1963. An alumna of the University of St. Andrews, with a degree in economics and computer science, Younger eventually joined the British Army after attending the Royal Military Academy in Sandhurst.
