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Jeremy Corbyn meets head of MI6 for first time amid snap election fears
Jeremy Corbyn has met with the head of MI6 for the first time in anticipation of a snap election triggered by the collapse of the Brexit negotiations, The Telegraph has learnt.
The Labour leader recently met with Alex Younger, the Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, during which the importance of the agency’s work and the severity of the threats facing Britain were made clear to him.
A Whitehall official with knowledge of the meeting said: “The feeling was that the time had come for Mr Corbyn to become acquainted with the workings of the intelligence establishment.”
According to a senior security source, the Labour leader met Mr Younger at the organisation's headquarters in Vauxhall, south London, where he received a detailed briefing on the service's organisational and operational structure.
They said the meeting was an "acquaintance" session designed to give the Labour leader a better understanding of the challenges facing Britain's overseas intelligence agency.
They added that Mr Younger had been keen to explain that MI6 was subjected to rigorous political oversight, and that its operations were undertaken within a strict legal framework at the behest of the democratically-elected government of the day.
"The main purpose of the meeting was to provide an overview of the organisational structure of the intelligence service and to explain the important role of intelligence-gathering within government," they continued.
"Officers thought it was important to stress to Mr Corbyn that MI6 did not pursue its own agenda.”
Mr Corbyn spent years as a backbench MP attacking the integrity of the intelligence services, and has in recent months sought to cast doubt on the reliability of their work by highlighting their involvement in events leading up to the Iraq War.
In the aftermath of the Salisbury poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal, Mr Corbyn provoked outrage when his spokesman appeared to question British intelligence, saying: “There’s a history in relation to weapons of mass destruction and intelligence which is problematic to put it mildly.”
In 2016, the Labour leader also questioned the need for more funding for the agencies, whilst two of his chief aides, Seumas Milne and Andrew Murray, have also been highly critical of their work.
On Friday Bob Seely MP, a former Army sergeant and expert on Russian warfare, welcomed the news, saying he hoped it had “brought home a sense of reality” to Mr Corbyn.
“Anything that encourages him to stop seeing the security services as the enemy is welcome,” he added. “The problem with being a student rebel is that when you are leader of the Opposition you’ve got to grow up a bit, to show faith in the services that protect our freedoms.
“A bit more realism and understanding of how his revolutionary heroes actually operate would also be a step forwards, as would distancing himself from the likes of Andrew Murray and Seumas Milne.”
Former heads of the security services have previously raised concerns over Mr Corbyn's fitness to hold office.
The Labour leader has a well-documented history of associating with individuals linked to terrorist groups, including Hamas and Hezbollah, groups which he once described as his “friends”.
Last year, this newspaper also revealed that MI5 opened a file on Mr Corbyn over his links to the IRA, amid fears that his association with the organisation whilst a backbench MP posed a threat to national security.
His refusal to condemn rogue states, such as Russia and Iran, is also believed to have heightened concerns within the intelligence community.
In recent months he has come under growing scrutiny for his appearances on the Iranian regime-backed channel Press TV, from which he is thought to have been paid up to £20,000.
Sir Richard Dearlove, a former head of MI6, has stated publicly that he is “troubled” by the Labour leader’s past associations with terror groups and rogue states, which Sir Richard said he found “surprising and worrying”.
“He may have abandoned them now, but I don’t think you can entirely dump your past." said Sir Richard.